When Anil Agarwal, the Indian mining billionaire, acquired a significant stake in Anglo American, speculation swirled about his intentions as it came less than a year after his failed proposal to merge his company and the mining giant. In the process, however, Agarwal, the owner of Vedanta Resources, became the second-biggest shareholder in one of the world's oldest mining houses. Now, six months later, with his 12% stake, Agarwal is free to pursue whatever strategic plans he may have for the miner after the expiry of the period imposed by UK takeover law that forced him to remain a passive investor. The industrialist can now get a seat on Anglo's board and influence forward-looking decisions in the company. Analysts were reluctant to speculate on what his next move would be, now that he was free to act. They were not too confident, however, that Agarwal would again pursue a merger between his company and Anglo because of a lack of synergy. Also, at this stage, such a transaction wo...
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