Australian Regulator Says Will Monitor Xstrata-Anglo

By Rebecca Keenan

June 22 (Bloomberg) -- Australia’s competition regulator said it will monitor Xstrata Plc’s proposed merger with Anglo- American Plc.

The regulator will “see what develops and then make a decision as to where we go from there,” Lin Enright, spokeswoman for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, said by phone.

Xstrata Chief Executive Officer Mick Davis wants to combine with London-based Anglo to create a mining company with a market value of about 41 billion pounds ($68 billion). About 47 percent of Xstrata’s operating income comes from assets in Australasia, according to Bloomberg data.

The regulator can monitor transactions without the deal being under review, according to the commission’s Web site. An investigation does not mean a transaction raises competition concerns and the matter may require further consideration before the commission can reach a view, it said.

Talks are “at a very preliminary stage, and there is no certainty that any transaction will be forthcoming,” London- based Anglo American said yesterday. It didn’t identify terms of a possible deal.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rebecca Keenan in Melbourne at rkeenan5@bloomberg.net