Anglo American mulls bid for Macarthur Coal

Anglo American is considering entering the race to acquire Australia's Macarthur Coal, in another sign of the deal-making frenzy sweeping through the international mining sector. An offer, were it to be made, would put the FTSE 100-listed Anglo in competition with the steelmaker Arcelor Mittal and the US coal group Peabody Energy, which have taken their joint A$4.7bn (£2.9bn) bid direct to Macarthur shareholders after failing to win backing for it from its board.

Peabody and Arcelor are offering A$15.66 a share and turned hostile after the Macarthur board asked for A$16 a share, along with the rider that the price would rise to A$18 if the bid was backed by more than 90 per cent of shareholders.