Mining group Anglo American appoints new chairman

Mining group Anglo American, which recently rejected a takeover bid from rival Xstrata, announced yesterday it had appointed John Parker as its new chairman to replace Mark Moody-Stuart who was retiring. Mr Parker, chairman of British utility company...

Mining group Anglo American, which recently rejected a takeover bid from rival Xstrata, announced yesterday it had appointed John Parker as its new chairman to replace Mark Moody-Stuart who was retiring.

Mr Parker, chairman of British utility company National Grid since 2002, will take up his new post on August 1. Moody-Stuart steps down after seven years in the job.

Anglo American's chief executive officer Cynthia Carroll said in a statement that Mr Parker would "bring significant insight and experience to the board" while praising Moody-Stuart for reinforcing the group's "position as a modern and responsible mining company."

The change at boardroom level comes as the British-South African firm last month rejected a merger bid by Swiss miner Xstrata, snubbing a move that could have forged the two into one of the world's biggest miners. Xstrata, still eying Anglo, said a merger could lead to potential annual benefits of more $1 billion. However, London-based Anglo American has called the merger offer "totally unacceptable."

A potential tie-up between the pair is the latest sign of consolidation pressure in the sector after the collapse of a deal by miner Rio Tinto with China.

A merger would create a company worth more than Rio Tinto, which recently cancelled a controversial tie-up with China's Chinalco in favour of a joint venture with the world's biggest miner BHP Billiton.

Anglo American has a market worth of about $35 billion and Xstrata $33 billion.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.