Anglo American’s octopus lives to fight another day
Reports that the company has decided to cancel its fire sale may not be all good news, a slimmed-down business would be much more attractive to potential buyers
Sydney — In its heyday, the business empire founded by Ernest Oppenheimer was likened to an octopus. The tangle of arms stretching from Anglo American has at times embraced the world’s biggest miners of gold, platinum and diamonds; concrete plants; pulp and paper mills; banks; newspapers; car factories; a South African vineyard; and a stake in the brewer that eventually became SABMiller. CEO Mark Cutifani dramatically turned his back on that legacy last February. The still-sprawling business would get rid of 60% of its workforce and two-thirds of its mines and focus on a core of diamonds, platinum and copper, he told investors. Operations in coal, iron ore, nickel, manganese, niobium and phosphates that collectively accounted for about 99.5% of the tonnage produced by the company would be put up for sale. The plan was wildly popular with investors, making Anglo American one of the five best-performing stocks in the Bloomberg World Mining index during 2016 — but it has now being moth...
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