Hong Kong listed MMG said on Tuesday that it had agreed with Anglo American to extend the long-stop date for its proposed acquisition of Anglo’s nickel business in Brazil to December 31, from October 31. All other conditions under the transaction have been satisfied, and the remaining condition is the European Commission’s merger review, which has moved to a Phase II investigation with a decision due by December 21, 2026.
The deal, struck in February 2025, is worth up to $500 million: $350 million of upfront cash, up to $100 million linked to realised nickel prices and up to $50 million tied to future project investment decisions. It covers the Barro Alto and Codemin ferronickel operations, which produced 39,400 tonnes of nickel in 2024, and the undeveloped Jacaré and Morro Sem Boné projects.
Brussels is examining whether MMG, which is controlled by China Minmetals, could redirect ferronickel supply away from European stainless steel producers, and MMG has offered a legally enforceable guarantee to maintain existing supply levels to those customers. The Commission has already issued a statement of objections, so the December decision is a genuine approval risk rather than a formality.
The stakes of a prohibition are unusually concrete. Anglo American executives told the Commission in October that MMG is the only credible buyer the company identified, that Anglo committed to exiting nickel more than two years ago, and that a blocked sale would leave it little option but to head toward care and maintenance as the pathway to closure. The extension to December 31 gives the parties nine days of buffer after the Commission’s deadline; if clearance does not come, the agreement can be terminated and the closure question becomes live.