Anglo American sells its slice of Jellinbah for $1.6b

Anglo American has agreed to the sale of its 33.3% minority interest in Jellinbah Group (Jellinbah) to Zashvin for cash proceeds of $1.6b as part of the company’s larger plan to restructure its business by shedding unwanted assets.

The Jellinbah Group is a joint venture that owns a 70% interest in the Jellinbah East and Lake Vermont steelmaking coal mines in Queensland. Zashvin is an existing 33.3% shareholder in Jellinbah alongside Anglo American and Marubeni.

This deal follows the rejection of BHP’s (ASX: BHP) third unsolicited, non-binding and highly conditional takeover proposal by the Anglo American board in May this year.

Anglo American chief executive Duncan Wanblad comments on the deal.

“We are delighted to have agreed terms with our JV partner, Zashvin, for the sale of our minority interest in Jellinbah,” he said.

“The cash proceeds of $1.6b reflect the exceptional quality of the Jellinbah business.

“Our process to sell the rest of our steelmaking coal business — being the portfolio of steelmaking coal mines that we operate in Australia — is now at an advanced stage and we are on track to agree terms in the coming months.

“We are making excellent progress with our simplification of Anglo American to create an exciting and differentiated investment proposition focused on our world-class copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients assets — all future-enabling products.

“This highly cash generative and much higher margin portfolio will offer greater resilience through cycles and the benefit of significant high quality and well sequenced growth options, including a clear path to increase annual copper production to more than 1mt by the early 2030s.”

Zashvin’s James Xu says Jellinbah’s success has been driven by robust partnerships.

“We’re appreciative of Anglo American’s significant role in this journey and we value its dedication to making this transaction smooth and efficient,” he said.

“As a family that’s been with Jellinbah since its inception, our increased investment not only reflects our confidence in Queensland’s coal industry but also our commitment to supporting the central Queensland community.”

The sale is expected to complete in Q2 of 2025.