Anglo American Sells Australian Coal to Dhilmar for $3.875bn

Anglo American, the London-listed mining major, announced on Monday morning that it has agreed to sell its portfolio of Australian steelmaking coal mines to Dhilmar Limited — a privately held UK-registered company led by the Indonesian mining executive Alexander Ramlie — for cash consideration of up to US$3.875 billion. The transaction is intended to complete the company’s full exit from steelmaking coal ahead of the planned merger of equals with Vancouver-based Teck Resources.

The structure of the deal reflects the cyclicality of the underlying commodity. Dhilmar will pay US$2.3 billion in upfront cash at completion, with a further price-linked earnout of up to US$1.575 billion payable quarterly over five years, calculated as 50% of incremental revenue post royalties from equity coal production above agreed benchmark prices. The trigger price broadly aligns to a Premium Low-Volatility Hard Coking Coal benchmark of US$259 per tonne, inflated annually by US CPI from the completion date.

Wanblad’s strategic rationale

Anglo American chief executive Duncan Wanblad, who has overseen the multi-year portfolio restructuring since 2024, framed the transaction in clear strategic terms. “Our agreement for Dhilmar to acquire our steelmaking coal business in Australia is testament to the high quality of these assets and our people. Dhilmar’s leadership brings considerable experience of operating major mining assets, including in steelmaking coal, in Southeast Asia and Canada.”

Wanblad continued: “This agreement represents another major step in the simplification of our portfolio ahead of completing our merger with Teck. Through this transaction, we will complete our exit from steelmaking coal, delivering aggregate cash proceeds of up to US$4.9 billion, given the prior completion of the sale of our interest in the Jellinbah mine for approximately US$1 billion.”

A second attempt after Peabody

The Dhilmar deal is Anglo American’s second attempt to dispose of the same portfolio. In November 2024, the company struck a similar agreement with US-based Peabody Energy for approximately US$3.78 billion. That deal collapsed in August 2025 when Peabody invoked a Material Adverse Change clause, citing a fire and prolonged shutdown at the Moranbah North mine — the largest individual asset in the portfolio. Anglo American disputed Peabody’s grounds for termination and initiated arbitration proceedings, which the company confirmed on Monday will continue in parallel with the new transaction.

The portfolio being transferred consists of an 88% interest in the Moranbah North and Grosvenor joint ventures, a 70% interest in Capcoal, 86.36% of Roper Creek, 51% of the Dawson cluster, and 50% of Moranbah South. These are concentrated in Queensland’s Bowen Basin — one of the world’s premier hard coking coal provinces — and supply integrated steelmakers in Japan, South Korea, India and across Europe.

The buyer: Dhilmar

Dhilmar is a recent entrant to the major mining sector. The company’s principal existing asset is the Éléonore gold mine in Quebec, which it acquired from Newmont Corporation in 2025 for approximately US$795 million. Its chief executive Alexander Ramlie also serves on the board of commissioners of PT Amman Mineral Internasional, operator of the Batu Hijau copper-gold mine in West Sumbawa, Indonesia. The acquisition of Anglo American’s Australian coal assets represents Dhilmar’s first major presence in the country.

Markets reacted with mild caution to the announcement. Anglo American (LON: AAL) shares fell 2.6% in London trading on Monday morning, with analysts citing the price-linked earnout structure as introducing additional volatility into the company’s medium-term cash flow profile. The broader FTSE 100 was trading flat to slightly lower at around 10,149 points, weighed down by continued tension around the Strait of Hormuz and political risk in Westminster.

The Teck merger horizon

For Anglo American, the Dhilmar deal removes the last major structural obstacle to the completion of its merger with Teck Resources, which was announced in September 2025 and is expected to create a critical-minerals giant with combined market capitalisation in excess of US$53 billion. The merged entity will focus exclusively on copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients — three commodity streams strategically aligned with the energy transition. The exit from steelmaking coal closes a chapter of Anglo American’s history that stretches back more than a century and positions the company for what its leadership clearly views as the defining cycle of the coming decade.