Anglo American Plc (LON:AAL) has hired three investment banks to fend off a potential takeover bid from the billionaire owner of Vedanta Resources Ltd (LON:VED), Anil Agarwal, the Telegraph reported, citing unidentified people.
Agarwal has previously stated he had no intention to take over the miner, but bankers think he is now working with adviser JP Morgan Chase & Co to help finance a bid as soon as September, the British newspaper said.
Anglo American's defense advisers, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Centerview Partners LLC, are said to plan attacks on the quality of Vedanta's portfolio compared to Anglo's assets, while Agarwal's environmental track record is also likely to come under scrutiny, according to unidentified people cited by the Telegraph.
The mining tycoon increased his stake in Anglo American to more than 20 percent in September 2017 through a mandatory convertible bond maturing in 2020. Although Agarwal's intentions are unclear, the approaching deadline is said to have put Anglo's management on high alert, the Telegraph said.
(Reporting by Michael Msika).