BHP Billiton said it would not be diverted from a strategy of pursuing large transformational acquisitions in spite of its failure to complete three consecutive deals including this week’s aborted $39bn hostile takeover of Canada’s PotashCorp.
At a shareholder meeting in Perth on Tuesday, Jac Nasser, BHP chairman, also defended the Anglo-Australian miner’s management team led by chief Marius Kloppers, who has faced criticism for the cost of failed deals and wasting management time. BHP has incurred close to $900m in costs for failed deals since Mr Kloppers took the helm in 2007.
“No pain, no gain with a lot of these transactions,” Mr Nasser said in the group’s first public comments since walking away from PotashCorp. “We are one of few companies in the world that can look at such large transactions.”