Visitors pass a sign at the entrance to the offices of Anglo American Plc in the Marshalltown district of Johannesburg. File picture: Chris Ratcliffe, Bloomberg
LONDON - Anglo American said on Tuesday it will sell its nickel business to a unit of Hong Kong-listed MMG Ltd for up to $500 million, as a broader restructuring aimed at refocusing its operations on copper and iron ore mining is well under way.
The nickel business includes two ferronickel and two greenfield projects in Brazil.
Anglo will get $350 million at completion, up to $100 million in a price-linked earnout and a contingent $50 million in cash for the potential development of the projects, it said in a statement.
The assets together produce about 38,000 metric tons of nickel per year. The metal's price reached a four-year low in January, as supply soared in top producer Indonesia.
London-listed Anglo American in May rebuffed a $49 billion hostile bid from the world's biggest miner BHP, which was focused on Anglo's copper assets.
"We are unlocking the inherent value of all of Anglo American as we create a much simpler, more resilient and agile business that will enable full value transparency in the market," CEO Duncan Wanblad said.
Ahead of its financial results on February 20, Anglo this week also said the spin-off of its platinum unit in South Africa will be completed by June.
As part of its restructuring, Anglo sold its coal assets for about $4.9 billion and plans to divest its De Beers diamond unit.
- REUTERS