Agarwal to buy $2.5B stake in Anglo American

Rapaport

Shares in Anglo American rose 9 percent on Thursday after Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal announced his intention to invest $2.45 billion (GBP 2 billion) in the mining conglomerate. The investment would be made through Volcan Investments, Agarwal’s holding company, which owns Vedanta Resources.

Vedanta affirmed its commitment Wednesday to the strategic priorities of ramping up production from its portfolio of low-cost assets, increasing its free cash flow, and reducing its debt.

Anglo American owns 85 percent of diamond mining company De Beers, as well as copper and coal operations, while Vedanta focuses on commodities such as zinc, lead, silver, copper, iron ore and aluminum.

The investment would give Agarwal  a 10 to 13 percent stake in Anglo, making him the second-largest shareholder, according to Bloomberg.

However, Agarwal said he would not make a takeover bid for Anglo, following the failure of a merger proposal last year, Bloomberg reported.

Source Rapaport