BHP Billiton to List Spin Off in London

BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE:BHP,ASX:BHP,LSE:BLT) has confirmed that it will list its planned spin-off company in London, as well as South Africa and Australia, Reuters reported Thursday. The move is expected to please investors.

As quoted in the market news:

BHP, the world’s biggest mining company, in August announced plans to spin off operations worth roughly $16 billion – most of them acquired in its 2001 merger with South Africa’s Billiton – to focus on its most profitable activities.

BHP said at the time that it would list the business on the Australian Stock Exchange, with a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

However, institutional investors objected to London’s omission. Those required to place funds in European-only entities would have been forced to sell shares in the spinoff company – a grouping of assets in aluminium, nickel, manganese and lower quality coal – in the absence of a London presence.

The outcry forced BHP to backtrack, and the miner told shareholders in September that it was considering a UK listing.

Click here to read the full Reuters report.