The Australian Federal Court has approved BHP’s $9.63 billion takeover of OZ Minerals in the final step toward completing the acquisition.
The scheme will become effective from Tuesday April 18, with the takeover expected to be implemented on Tuesday May 2.
The Court’s approval comes less than a week after OZ Minerals shareholders also approved the takeover.
At the time of shareholder approval, BHP chief executive officer Mike Henry said the approval was a strong endorsement on the value of the arrangement.
“This is a strong endorsement from OZ Minerals shareholders on the value they will receive under the scheme and the hard work of the OZ Minerals team over many years to create a successful business,” he said.
“We look forward to bringing together our talent and resources to create an even stronger organisation.”
The OZ board has unanimously recommended that its shareholders approve the takeover ever since BHP submitted a revised offer of $9.63 billion in November 2022.
The revised offer was an increase on the original $8.4 billion offer made in August 2022.
At times, it seemed that the shareholders would reject the offer after citing OZ’s attractive portfolio, but the takeover was accepted without incident.
BHP has progressed through a whirlwind of approvals this year, from both the Brazilian competition regulator and Vietnam’s Competition and Consumer Authority.
OZ Minerals has a number of operations in Brazil, including the Santa Lúcia iron oxide copper-gold mineral deposit, the Antas copper-gold mine, and CentroGold, one of the largest undeveloped gold projects in Brazil.
In preparation for the next phase of the takeover, OZ will suspend share trading at the end of business on April 18.