Anglo rallies on takeover speculation

Johannesburg - Anglo American [JSE:AGL] share price rallied in afternoon trade on Thursday amid market speculation that the resources giant, listed on the JSE and London Stock Exchange, could be a takeover target.

Sasha Naryshkine, portfolio manager at Vestact Asset Management, said the speculation was triggered by discussions between Xstrata and commodities group Glencore International regarding an all share merger of equals.

Xstrata, the Swiss-based resources group, confirmed that it was in discussions with Glencore International regarding the proposed deal. Xstrata said on Thursday this might not lead to an offer being made by Glencore for Xstrata.

Naryshkine said the takeover premium built up in the Anglo stock in anticipation of the possible bid for the diversified mining group.

But Naryshkine said this largely depended on the successful talks between Xstrata and Glencore over the tie-up. Glencore currently owns 34% of Xstrata.

Xstrata is one of the world's largest mining and metals companies - a major producer of seven commodities used in everything from constructing buildings and delivering electricity to developing jet engines and mobile phones. It operates in more than 20 countries and employs more than 70 000 people globally.

Glencore is headquartered in Baar, Switzerland, and is one of the world's leading integrated producers and marketers of commodities.

In afternoon trade, Anglo's share price was up R12.40 or 3.76% to R342 on the JSE, off the intraday high of R343.69.