This Month
Shipping crises ‘spanner in works’ for inflation fight
Australian consumers and retailers are facing long delays and higher prices for goods from Europe and Asia amid an international shipping crisis that could stoke local inflation.
- Tom Rabe and Jenny Wiggins
June
Australia crashes from T20 World Cup after epic Afghan win
Australia is heading home from the Twenty20 World Cup elimination after a heavy loss to India and Afghanistan’s enthralling win over Bangladesh.
- Updated
- Scott Bailey and Oliver Caffrey
Why markets like to see new political faces
Whether a government is weak or strong, left or right, doesn’t seem to matter much for economies, but new leaders are associated with higher growth and returns.
- Ruchir Sharma
Jacob Zuma the disruptor has South Africa’s fate in his hands
Six years after being pushed from office, the former prime minister successfully upstaged his successor Cyril Ramaphosa in national elections this week.
- S'thembile Cele and Ntando Thukwana
Party that freed South Africa from apartheid loses 30-year majority
With more than 99 per cent of votes counted, the once-dominant ANC had received just over 40 per cent in parliamentary elections – well short of the majority it held.
- Gerald Imray and Mogomotsi Magome
May
Nelson Mandela’s party set to lose majority in seismic election
South African voters have watched the economy stagnate over the past decade, while unemployment and poverty have climbed and infrastructure has crumbled.
- Bhargav Acharya and Anait Miridzhanian
- Opinion
- Mining
Why BHP’s pursuit of hot copper went cold
The red metal is the new black. A rebuffed BHP has gone back to the drawing board to plot its next move after Anglo American rejected its request for more time.
- Jennifer Hewett
- Updated
- Mergers & acquisitions
BHP’s $75b Anglo mega deal on ice
Anglo American has rejected BHP’s request for more time to negotiate a $75 billion takeover offer, meaning the deal is off for at least six months, unless BHP lobs a formal bid by 2am. BHP is unlikely to make a bid before the deadline.
- Updated
- Peter Ker
Consulting downturn ‘great for us’ as PiP joins Accenture
Partners in Performance head Skipp Williamson says the firm will continue to do “more than PowerPoints” when it joins Accenture.
- Maxim Shanahan
South African politics complicates BHP’s Anglo American discussions
As they try to seal a $75 billion deal on the same day as the South African election, the two miners remain split on the costs Pretoria will impose on any deal.
- Peter Ker
- Exclusive
- Consulting
Accenture set to buy Partners in Performance
Consulting firm Accenture is set to acquire Partners in Performance, in the most significant consulting market deal in nearly five years.
- Maxim Shanahan
How South Africa has changed 30 years after apartheid
The country, which goes to the polls on May 29, made widespread improvements in its first 15 years of majority rule. The past 15 have been another story.
- The Economist
BHP’s Mike Henry traverses the globe by private jet
The mining giant has rented a private jet for its global M&A push on Anglo American.
- Mark Di Stefano
Anglo’s South African investors open to improved BHP bid
The shareholder stance defies South African government hostility to the plan that would break up the national champion.
- Harry Dempsey and Rob Rose
- Opinion
- Mining
BHP is betting self-interest trumps politics on Anglo American
Convincing South Africa’s government its $60 billion takeover bid for the mining multinational is politically palatable is part of BHP’s challenge in a particularly complex deal.
- Jennifer Hewett
April
BHP’s rivals for Anglo American set to emerge
The UK-listed miner has rejected an approach from BHP, but other major miners including Rio Tinto could announce a competing bid.
- Updated
- Tom Wilson
BHP goes big game hunting on the African savannah
BHP and Anglo American are undisputed industrial champions in their home countries. The vast gap between them says a lot about Australia and South Africa.
- Peter Ker
BHP’s $60 billion copper play was years in the making
How chief executive Mike Henry has been methodically hunting a big deal for years.
- Thomas Biesheuvel, Dinesh Nair and Paul-Alain Hunt
The rare earths mine becoming a bellwether for US minerals policy
China is home to 70 per cent of rare earths mining and 90 per cent of processing capacity. Tackling this dominance has become one of Washington’s strategic priorities.
- Harry Dempsey
- Opinion
- US Masters
Not even Greg Norman’s hysterical hubris can hide LIV’s collapse into periphery
Far from rescuing golf, he has plunged it into a profound crisis, where many of the game’s leading men are squirrelled away on a tour whose TV ratings are pathetically low.
- Oliver Brown
