The National Union of Mineworkers on Tuesday applauded a move by Anglo American PLC to reject the offer of a merger by Swiss rival, Xstrata.

The union's general secretary Frans Baleni however, reminded the company that "any deal about us without us will be outrightly (sic) rejected".

Num said in a statement it opposed all forms of mergers as they were likely to result in restructuring which could lead to retrenchments.

Anglo American on Monday said it rejected the merger offer saying the move would "profoundly impact" the nature of the group's portfolio by "diluting Anglo American's unique exposure" to the "structurally attractive" platinum, iron ore and diamond markets and increasing its exposure to nickel and zinc.

he London-based company said the move was not in its interests.

It said the case for the merger was "unattractive" for Anglo American shareholders, adding that irrespective of the lack of strategic merit, the terms proposed by Xstrata were "totally unacceptable".

Xstrata said in a statement on Sunday it believed a merger of the two companies with complementary assets was highly compelling.

Had the merger gone ahead, it would have created the world's largest producer of platinum, zinc, coal for power stations, coal for steelmaking and ferrochrome.

However, the deal would probably not have been given the green light by South Africa's competition authorities.

Xstrata is the world's fourth largest copper producer while Anglo American is the world's third biggest miner. Anglo American owns the world's largest platinum producer, South Africa's Anglo Platinum.

Sapa

RSS
Digg
de.li.cious
facebook
What we waste money on Pizza `What do you waste money on?` Most respondents in a new poll seem to agree...
How to budget Budget The disease? Overspending. The cure? Drawing up a budget. Kabous le Roux on how to do it...
Taxing retirement funds The tax considerations of various retirement funds before, upon and after retirement...