Farewell, Anglo American: ARVs, Vergelegen Wine Estate and a complicated legacy

By Thebe Mabanga

One of the most significant business events of this year was the announcement by Anglo American that is to engage in a $69 billion merger of equals with Canadian miner Teck Resources to form Anglo Teck.

The merger moves the 108-year-old diversified miner from Johannesburg, via London, to Vancouver in Canada, where the new entity will be headquartered.

The move puts to bed Anglo’s long held desire or rather frequently offered advice to leave South Africa and puts paid to speculation of who Anglo might merge with, which has dogged it virtually since it listed in London in May 1999.

The most remarkable feat of by Anglo is that it has until now kept its founding name, Anglo American, intact through mergers, demergers, acquisitions and restructurings until now, as it will now be known as Anglo Teck.

The fact that the merger went through without so much