Irrational exuberance

21 September 2017 By Andy Critchlow

The Indian billionaire is doubling down. Paying as much as 1.5 billion pounds to raise his stake in the UK-listed miner to 20 pct may be a way of trying to force a breakup. But unpredictable commodities prices and South Africa’s volatile politics could scupper any such plans.

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Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal is increasing his stake in Anglo American.

Volcan Investments – owned by Agarwal’s family trust – said on Sept 20 that it intends to acquire Anglo Shares worth between 1.25 billion pounds and 1.5 billion pounds, in addition to the 2 billion pounds spent in March on acquiring a 12.43 percent holding.

The additional shares could take the stake up to 20 percent over the next 10 days, according to a banking source cited by Reuters.

Agarwal owns almost 70 percent of London-listed Vedanta Resources, which has a market value of 2.3 billion pounds.

Shares in Anglo American were up 1.6 percent at 1315 pence a share at 0854 BST.

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