Digging a hole
Big mining gets bigger
Good morning, ore explorers. This is your Stock Market Rundown for April 29th, 2024. Thanks for joining me for another week of financial fun times. Let’s dig in:
TODAY’S TOP STORY: GO BIG OR GO HOME
When an acquisition offer gets rejected… well, it hurts. It’s like asking the prom queen to dance and getting painfully rejected, right in front of everybody.
BHP Group, the world’s largest mining company, just faced exactly that painful scenario, after making a $38.8 billion bid to buy rival miner Anglo American. The deal would fuse two giants that, combined, would control 10% of the world’s copper production.
BHP would love to get their clutches on Anglo’s copper mines in Chile and Peru. That’s because, thanks to the global shift to green energy, the red metal is a hot commodity. Electric vehicles, wind turbines, and power grids all require lots of copper, which experts say will push demand up 24% over the next decade.
But so far, BHP’s shiny prize eludes them. Anglo shareholders turned the bid down flat, scoffing that the proposed price “significantly undervalues” the company.
What’s next? Well, BHP will probably crunch some numbers and raise their bid price. But they’re not the only mining company seeking copper assets.
If other prospective acquirers throw their hats in the ring to bid for Anglo, this copper courtship could have more drama than a whole season of The Bachelor—and billions of dollars will change hands before the final rose gets handed out.
SO WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
Layoffs watch: Whirlpool is putting its employee base through the wringer—it’s letting go of 1,000 workers.
Chipotle raised its full-year financial forecasts as foot traffic increased. Even with grocery bills up, consumers will still pay extra for guacamole.
Private equity giant Blackstone is buying Tropical Smoothie, a franchise with 1,400 locations. When you’ve spent an 18-hour day working on M&A deals, nothing hits like a Chia Banana Boost.
PepsiCo beat estimates despite jacking up prices by 5% in the quarter. If you thought cigarette addiction was bad, it’s nothing compared to consumers’ addiction to Doritos and Cap’n Crunch.
And that's a wrap on today, friends. Make sure to tune in tomorrow morning. Yours in capitalism, The Axe
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