UPDATE: Anglo American To Sell Moly-Cop, AltaSteel For $932 Million

Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) said Sunday that it agreed to sell its Moly-Cop and AltaSteel operations to Australia's OneSteel Ltd. (OST.AU) for $932 million on a debt and cash free basis, as the company continues its divestment program to focus on what it sees as its core commodity assets.

In October last year, Anglo American announced plans to focus on platinum, copper, nickel, coal and iron ore. The announcement to hone in on its key commodities followed attempts by rival Xstrata PLC (XTA.LN) to merge the two companies and market speculation that the miner remained vulnerable to further takeover attempts.

"Following the $1.3 billion divestment of our Zinc portfolio in May 2010, the sale of Moly-Cop and AltaSteel represents further strategic progress as we continue to focus on our core commodity businesses and on the delivery of our major near-term growth projects," said Chief Executive Cynthia Carroll.

Anglo American said Sunday it continues to progress with its divestment program "in a manner and to a timetable that maximizes value to its shareholders," including the sale of the Scaw Metals Group based in South Africa.

Moly-Cop and AltaSteel were part of the larger Scaw Metals Group.

The miner sold its zinc portfolio in May to Vedanta Resources PLC (VED.LN).

OneSteel (OST.AU), an Australia-based manufacturer and distributor of steel and finished steel products, said the acquisition is important for the company's future growth in mining consumables.

Moly-Cop is based in Chile and its facilities include the ability to convert steel bars into grinding balls for use in mine milling circuits. AltaSteel is based in Edmonton, Canada and is a vertically-integrated steel mini-mill.

In the first half of 2010, the businesses recorded $319 million in revenue and for the whole of 2009 they made $642 million in revenue.

Anglo American is geographically focused around platinum in South Africa, copper in Chile, nickel in Brazil, metallurgical coal in Australia, thermal coal in South Africa, subsidiary Kumba Iron Ore Ltd. in South Africa and other iron ore in Brazil.

Anglo American is in the process of doubling its Brazilian iron ore capacity but he company is behind schedule because of difficulty with environmental licensing, analysts have said.

Completion of the Moly-Cop and AltaSteel transaction is conditional on antitrust clearance in Canada and it will undergo regulatory review in Australia and Brazil, Anglo American said.

-By Devon Maylie, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]