Anglo American disbanded itself after rejecting a £34bn BHP bid

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Anglo American is planning to disband after the mining group rejected a £34 billion takeover offer from rival BHP.

The 107-year-old company said Tuesday it would sell or wind down its De Beers diamond business, its Anglo American Platinum operations and its coking coal assets.

Under sweeping changes, brother will instead focus on its copper, iron ore and crop nutrients businesses.

Chief executive Duncan Wanblad has come under intense pressure to set out Anglo’s future as an independent group after rejecting an improved offer from BHP valued the company at £34 billion.

Anglo also said it would scale back plans for Woodsmith, betting on a giant underground mine in the UK to produce a new type of fertiliser.

Wanblad said on Tuesday: “Our decision focuses Anglo American’s portfolio on a world-class resource asset base of high-grade copper and iron ore – while maintaining the option to Crop nutrition at Woodsmith – marks an important new phase in implementing our strategy.

“We expect that a radically simpler business will create sustainable added value through incremental changes in operational efficiency and cost reduction.”

With demand for copper forecast to increase as the world decarbonizes, BHP, the world’s largest mining company, has set its goals on securing Anglo’s valuable copper assets.

Anglo shareholders have predicted that the group will struggle to maintain its current structure and resist an approach from BHP.