BHP to Part Ways with Billiton Name

   By Robb M. Stewart 
 

MELBOURNE, Australia--BHP Billiton (BHP) aims to remove the second half of its name this year, the next step in a rebranding push that has focused the world's biggest listed miner on its Australian roots.

In documents released Tuesday to the Australian Securities Exchange, the company said it would ask shareholders to vote to rename the company BHP Group.

Last May, the company shifted to a new logo that simply said "BHP" and dropped three stylized blobs that had been featured for years. It also adopted the motto "Think Big" in place of "Resourcing the Future."

The shortened name takes the company back to its origins as Broken Hill Proprietary Co., when it was formed more than 130 years ago around a silver, lead and tin mine in South Australia. It formally adopted BHP Ltd. a year before the 2001 merger with Britain's Billiton PLC, when it took on both names and a dual Australia- U.K.-headquartered and listed structure.

In recent years, the company has consolidated its portfolio of assets around iron ore, oil and gas, copper, and coal. In 2015, it spun off nickel, aluminum and other assets--much of which came from the Billiton side of the company--into South32 Ltd. (S32.AU). In late July, it struck a US$10.8 billion deal to exit its shale assets in the U.S., selling most of the oil and gas operations to BP PLC (BP).

Shareholders in BHP Billiton PLC will be asked to vote on the name change at the annual meeting in October, and owners of Australia-listed BHP Billiton Ltd. at the annual meeting the next month in Adelaide.

-- Write to Robb M. Stewart at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 17, 2018 21:54 ET (01:54 GMT)

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