Street Talk

Peabody boss in Japanese charm offensive for $US3.8b Anglo coal deal

Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

Jan 23, 2025 – 6.35pm

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NYSE-listed Peabody Energy’s chief executive Jim Grech played a blinder in November when he went from underdog to winner in Anglo American’s Queensland coal auction. Now, he’s hit the road to overcome one of the biggest hurdles in consummating the $US3.78 billion ($6 billion) joint acquisition.

Street Talk understands Grech flew to Japan in mid-December to meet with dealmakers from Mitsui, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC), JFE and Kobe Steel. These energy and resources players are minority shareholders in Anglo’s coal mines and hold pre-emption rights that allow them to match Peabody’s bid for individual mines.

Sarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones.

Kanika Sood is a journalist based in Sydney who writes for the Street Talk column.

Emma Rapaport is a co-editor of the Street Talk column. Prior to that, she was a markets reporter at The Australian Financial Review.