Peabody terminates planned acquisition with Anglo American

According to Peabody its decision to terminate the transaction comes nearly five months after an ignition event occurred at Anglo’s Moranbah North Mine. The exact cause of the event remains unknown, with no definitive timeline to resuming sustainable longwall production.

“The two companies did not reach a revised agreement to cure the MAC that compensated Peabody for the material and long-term impacts of the MAC on the most significant mine in the planned acquisition”, said Peabody President and CEO, Jim Grech. “Peabody has chosen to terminate the transaction and will continue to execute our plans to create substantial value from our diversified global asset portfolio.”

Prior to the 31 March event, the acquisition had been scheduled to close in April 2025. Anglo estimates US$45 million per month of holding costs at Moranbah North. The mine was previously targeted to produce 5.3 million t of saleable production in 2025, yet there is no timetable for the resumption of longwall production at forecasted volumes and costs.

Peabody has also terminated the agreement for the related sale of the Dawson Mine to PT Bukit Makmur Mandiri Utama.

“Peabody’s portfolio is very well positioned, with growing exposure to seaborne metallurgical coal highlighted by our new 25-year premium hard coking coal Centurion Mine, a low-cost seaborne thermal coal platform, and a leading US thermal coal position capitalising on rising power generation demand”, said Grech. “Moving forward, we intend to execute a four-pronged strategy for value creation.”

In contrast, to the above statements published by Peabody, Anglo American has affirmed that it continues to focus on and make good progress towards the safe restart of Moranbah North. The company firmly believes that the event that occurred on 31 March 2025 does not constitute an MAC under the definitive agreements with Peabody. This belief is reinforced by the lack of damage to the mine or equipment and the clear progress being made within the rigorous and structured regulatory process towards restarting the mine.

Duncan Wanblad, CEO of Anglo American, said:

“We are confident in our belief that the event at Moranbah North in March does not constitute a MAC under the sale agreements with Peabody. Our view is supported by the lack of damage to the mine and equipment, as well as the substantial progress made with the regulator, our employees and the unions, and other stakeholders as part of the regulatory process towards a safe restart of the mine. In fact, just in the last week we achieved a further important milestone, with our workforce signing off the risk assessment that underpins the restart strategy. We are therefore very disappointed that Peabody has decided not to complete the transaction.

“Despite our strongly held view, we believe that it would have been better for all parties to avoid a legal dispute. On that basis we have invested significant effort and shown great flexibility over recent months to find a solution for Peabody, including proposing amended terms and technical options. Following Peabody’s decision not to proceed with the transaction, we continue to focus on the safe restart of Moranbah North and in delivering value from the entirety of our SMC portfolio. We continue to reserve our rights under the definitive agreements, we are confident in our legal position and will shortly initiate an arbitration to seek damages for wrongful termination.”

“We held a very competitive process to sell this high-quality parcel of steelmaking coal assets in 2024 and the unsolicited inbound interest expressed to us in recent months is testament to the strategic value of these assets and the attractive long-term market fundamentals. We are confident that we will successfully conclude an alternative sales process for value in due course.”

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/21082025/peabody-terminates-planned-acquisition-with-anglo-american/