TO INVEST UP TO $2.45 BILLION IN ANGLO AMERICAN

Anil Agarwal said he was buying a 2-billion-pound ($2.45-billion) stake in Anglo American, sending the global miner’s shares sharply higher.

Agarwal, who has majority control of Hindustan Zinc Ltd through Vedanta Ltd, will make the investment via his family trust Volcan Holdings, Volcan said in a statement after the market close on Wednesday.

Anglo American, which has a market value of around 16.75 billion pounds ($20.55 billion), refused to comment. It has also declined comment on reports that it has rebuffed previous approaches for a tie-up with Agarwal’s Hindustan Zinc.

“This is an attractive investment for our family trust ... I am delighted to become a shareholder in Anglo American plc,” Agarwal said in the statement.

Anglo’s shares were up nearly 10%. Vedanta’s shares in London also rose around 6%.

Last year, Anglo American’s shares gained 300%, as the mining industry recovered from a slump in commodity prices.

Agarwal is the founder and chairman of Vedanta, which has copper operations in Zambia and a zinc mine in South Africa, Anglo American’s heartland.

One industry source who has worked with him in the past, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Agarwal had been looking at Anglo American for at least five years.

“His dream is to have Vedanta as one of the big diversified miners at some point,” the source said.

A full-scale takeover of Anglo American would be difficult as Vedanta, with a market capital of around 2 billion pounds, is much smaller than Anglo American.