Shifting Dynamics--Anglo gaining ground in Codelco battle

摘要

With the tussle moving out of the courts and into the commercial arena, and with Codelco CEO Diego Hernandez suddenly quitting his post in the midst of the ongoing battle, Anglo American CEO Cynthia Carroll appears to have gained significant traction in her standoff with Codelco, Chile's State-owned copper mining company.Codelco and the Johannesburg- and London-listed Anglo American have been at loggerheads since Hernandez attempted to exercise a decades-old 1978 option to seize nearly half of Anglo's copper assets in the South American country at a heavily discounted price in a forced sale.Hernandez, who previously headed BHP Billiton in Chile, resigned his post last week, effective today, citing personal reasons.His place will be taken by Codelco CFO Thomas Keller, 55, who has an MBA from the University of Chicago. He was previously executive president of the Collahuasi copper mine, which is owned by Anglo American and Xstrata.