By Mrinmay Dey
(Reuters) -Anglo American was encouraged by major shareholders including BlackRock (NYSE:) to continue talks with BHP Group (NYSE:) over its proposed 38.6 billion pound ($49.18 billion) mining merger, a company said person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Saturday.
BHP, the world’s largest listed mining group, now has until May 29 to make a strong bid for Anglo American (JO:) or it will be forced to walk away for at least six months under UK takeover rules after it had received an offer. -week extension on Wednesday.
BlackRock was among a handful of investors who encouraged meaningful negotiations with BHP, according to the Financial Times, which first reported the news.
Two other major shareholders, Ninety One and Sanlam Investments, also backed the decision to expand talks despite concerns over a deal structure that would require Anglo to divest its stakes in its South African platinum and iron ore units, the newspaper added to it.
Ninety One and Sanlam Investments did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
US-based asset manager BlackRock owns a 9.6% stake in Anglo and is also a shareholder in BHP, according to LSEG data.
BHP will remain firm on the structure and value of its latest takeover proposal, focusing instead on addressing its target’s concerns about execution risks in the coming week, Reuters reported on Thursday.
The FT said that according to people familiar with BHP’s thinking, there was only room for “smaller, creative structures to better share risk”.
However, people close to Anglo quoted by the newspaper say the structure must be changed or BHP will have to pay more.
Anglo American declined to comment on the FT report, while BHP Group and BlackRock did not respond to requests for comment.
($1 = 0.7849 pounds)
