Latham & Watkins, Jones Day and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz have been called in for Anglo American’s sale of its remaining coal operations in Australia to US coal miner Peabody Energy for up to $3.78bn in cash. 

Latham is acting for Anglo American on the deal, part of a wider effort by the London-listed miner to streamline its operations in a bid to improve financial performance. 

Meantime Jones Day is advising Peabody and Wachtell is acting as counsel to Peabody’s board of directors. The Jones Day team is led by Brisbane-based corporate partners Isaac West and Simon Brown and competition partner Prudence Smith, who works out of Sydney. It also includes Brisbane-based energy projects partners Dan Howard and Adam Conway, while a US team comprised of partners Ward Winslow, Jason Samblanet and Rachel Rawson is advising on the financing aspects.

The Latham team is led by London corporate partners Sam Newhouse, Emily Cridland and Ed Barnett. Advice on US finance matters was provided by Los Angeles partner Mark Morris and Washington DC partners Jason Licht and Christopher Bezeg; on tax matters by London partner Helen Lethaby; on regulatory matters by Brussels/London partner David Little; and on transitional services matters by London partner Christian McDermott.

Latham is also acting for Anglo American in the sale of its minority stake in Australian coal joint venture Jellinbah Group to Zashvin for $1.1bn, with corporate partner trio Newhouse, Cridland and Barnett leading the effort on that deal, Latham said in a statement. 

The disposal activity comes as Anglo American reshapes its business to focus on copper – a metal key to the clean energy transition – after it fended off a $49bn takeover bid from rival BHP earlier this year. Anglo’s plan to restructure will also see it spin out its Anglo American Platinum unit by the middle of next year as well as its nickel business and the famous De Beers diamond brand. 

Anglo American CEO, Duncan Wanblad, said the company was “well progressed with the delivery of $1bn of cost savings”. 

Peabody’s deal comprises an upfront cash payment of $2.05bn at completion, a deferred cash consideration of $725m and the potential for up to $550m over five years dependent on prices and performance. It also includes a possible further $450m linked to the reopening of the Grosvenor mine that was closed following a fire in June. 

The deal is subject to customary competition and regulatory approvals and is expected to complete in the third quarter of 2025.

Moelis & Company and MA Moelis Australia are serving as financial advisors to Peabody, while Jefferies is leading a financier consortium for the transaction. 

Energy and power has been a major driver of M&A in 2024, providing a rich seam of work for law firms as businesses in the sector consolidate and position themselves to take advantage of the clean energy transition. 

The value of energy deals jumped 20% in the first nine months of the year to $359.1bn according to data published by London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) – second only to the tech sector by value. 

Latham’s work on energy deals including EQT’s $35bn acquisition of Equitrans helped it place third in LSEG’s global M&A legal advisor rankings by deal value for the first three quarters, after working on deals worth $290.6bn. Meantime Wachtell placed seventh after working on deals worth just over $211bn, including ConocoPhillips’ $22.5bn acquisition of Marathon Oil.