Exclusive-BHP considered spinning off iron ore, coal divisions
MELBOURNE (Reuters) -The world's biggest listed miner BHP Group considered spinning off its Australian iron ore and coal divisions as part of a medium-term growth strategy, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. As part of a planned focus on future-facing commodities potash and copper, BHP weighed separating out the divisions, as it did with South32 in 2015, with an Australian listing most likely before management decided not to go ahead, two of the sources said. Such a move would radically reshape BHP, divorcing it from more than half a century of iron ore mining in Australia, where it was incorporated in 1885.