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DEALMAKING in global mining was "in new waters" owing to geopolitical tension and market volatility, said Duncan Wanblad, CEO of Anglo American, which is seeking regulatory approval for its $54bn all-share merger with Teck Resources.
Shareholders of both companies approved the transaction in December 2025. Anglo then notified competition regulators in the US and China. China has yet to approve the deal, however, with discussions focused on commitments to supply copper concentrate to China, according to a Reuters report earlier this month.
Anglo still believes it will have the necessary approvals by March 2027, but Wanblad said regulatory approvals were taking longer to secure, citing the group's proposed $500m sale of nickel assets in Brazil to China's MMG Ltd. While that sale has caught the eye of Washington, the main objection has come from the European Commission, which has formally issued a "statement of objections" to MMG.
"Who would have thought it would take two years in a regulatory process to get a nickel business sold?" said Wanblad in a presentation to the Joburg Indaba conference. "We are now heading into the second year since we announced the sale of the nickel business.
"We announced the merger with Teck just over a year ago. We are still waiting for final regulatory approval. So these things get really choppy out there. You need a pretty steadfast approach to getting all of this done, because nothing happens very quickly."
He added: "Given the recent geopolitical changes, the increase in volatility, the breaking down of unified supply chains, this critical minerals nationalism, the defence aspects, we are in new waters, right? So in a way we are pioneering here.
"I genuinely don't think there should be any antitrust issues with any of these deals. But we still have to complete nickel and we still have to complete Teck, so we are kind of the guinea pigs for the market in working this out."
Bar the MMG nickel deal, and the closure of the steelmaking coal business, the only other element of Anglo's restructuring is the divestment of its 85% stake in De Beers. Wanblad acknowledged in August that this was by far the trickiest part of the equation, owing to the decline in rough diamond prices.
In July, Anglo took the drastic step of shuttering Venetia, its South African diamond mine, for two years. The closure will save $300m but may well affect valuation. According to a Bloomberg report in July, the winning consortium may pay $1bn, far below the $2.3bn book value of Anglo's De Beers stake.
The final value of De Beers will also have to take into account the huge marketing bill the new owners will have to shoulder. Natural diamond jewellery has long been thought to be under-marketed to the public.
Wanblad said on Wednesday that Anglo lacked the capabilities to develop the midstream and downstream businesses, where De Beers' marketing sits. "The rationale for it not being part of the portfolio is very clearly predicated on that basis," he said.
Asked about criticism that Anglo had only itself to blame for the damage to De Beers, he replied: "What I care about is that when we make these decisions to divest or merge these businesses, we do it right.
"That's really all I'm focused on with De Beers. I think that is ultimately what we should measure ourselves on. How the outside world chooses to measure it is probably down to them, but that's how I think about it."