‘It came completely out of the blue,’ recalls Anglo American general counsel Kate Southwell, looking back at the series of hostile takeover bids by rival miner BHP during 2024.
The initial £31bn bid came just a year after Southwell had joined the FTSE 100 company in 2023, with more offers from BHP coming in quick succession over the following weeks.
Southwell looks back on what she describes as ‘an extraordinary period’.
‘I’ve been through a lot, but I’d never been through what was essentially a hostile and unsolicited approach,’ she reflects.’ You can’t even tell your husband what you’re working on, because it’s just so market sensitive.’
The process was a learning experience for Southwell, the type of which few GCs will encounter in their careers. Working with external counsel at Linklaters, Southwell and her team moved quickly to coordinate a rapid response to BHP’s bids, which rose to £34bn and then more than £38bn.
’We very quickly gathered our defence team – I learned a lot about having to trust the team and our advisers, because you have to run the business at the same time. And during the period it’s confidential, nobody knows that you’re in a defence.’
‘You don’t want the deal to leak before you’ve actually had the chance to work out whether there’s a deal to be done. In those situations, confidentiality is obviously absolutely vital and a requirement under the Takeover Code.’
BHP ultimately withdrew from the bidding process, but that period of intense scrutiny on Anglo’s business prompted the company to reevaluate its portfolio and put itself in a better position for the future.
Southwell explains: ‘Most mining companies have been trying to work out their optimal mix of commodities. Historically, we’ve been a very diversified mining company, and we have been working on becoming a more focused producer of future-enabling metals and minerals. So, for us that meant copper, premium quality iron ore, and crop nutrients from our project in Yorkshire.’
In the eighteen months after the bids, Southwell and her team have been supporting the company on the transformational project to streamline its business.
That has included divesting its steelmaking coal and nickel business, the demerger of its platinum business, and the planned sale of its iconic diamond business, De Beers.
On top of all this, at the end of last year the company announced it would be merging with Canadian miner Teck to create a $53bn company.
After such a hectic period, Southwell says she has found that ‘taking each day as it comes’ has become a mantra to live by, while also remaining cognisant of the impact on her team.
‘I’ve focused on staying calm, but also thinking through different scenarios, and making sure we were prepared for different eventualities,’ she says. ‘Looking after the team’s welfare is incredibly important. People are doing crazy hours, and you know that you can’t make good decisions when people are exhausted.’
Tenacity and turbulence
As a child of the 1990s, a diet of legal dramas such as This Life and Ally McBeal were among the early inspiration for Southwell to pursue a career in the legal profession. She studied law with French at Nottingham University, before joining US firm Shearman & Sterling in 2004, where she qualified.
‘That was the era of upstart New York firms coming into the London market,’ she recalls. ‘Shearman was one of the earliest and most successful in that space. As a trainee, that meant you got lots of responsibility early on.’
After a few years working in London, she relocated to Shearman’s New York HQ – an opportunity she secured ‘with a bit of tenacity’, as she recalls.
‘It was a really fantastic experience. It coincided with the global financial crisis – there was a lot of turbulence in the markets at that time. But again, it was a great learning curve.’
During the crisis, Shearman, like many other firms grappling with a downturn in work, offered junior associates the opportunity to take time off on reduced pay, and Southwell accepted a year off on one third of her salary.
‘I put my hand up for that – I thought it was a great opportunity to go and see the world. In some ways, I think that set the wheels in motion for me to leave Shearman and do something slightly different to the linear career path that I had been focused on until that time.’
After learning to surf in Bali and spending time in the Swiss mountains – where she met her husband – Southwell decided to pursue a new path.
‘It opened my eyes to what made me tick – that there were other careers available and that you didn’t just have to make partnership to be happy and successful.’
More than just digging rocks
In 2011, she made the move in-house while remaining in Switzerland, joining zinc mining company Nyrstar as corporate counsel. Fifteen years on, she is still in the mining field.
‘At the time, I thought mining was just digging rocks out of the ground and selling them. But when I got into the industry, you start to understand the complexity of it, from exploration, environmental issues, to building a mine, financing, and engaging with communities and governments. It’s this whole fascinating industry. So now it’s very intentional, but it was a lot of luck that I ended up in the industry.’
Her next move saw her join Swiss private equity-focused mining fund Pala Investments, where she became general counsel.
After 12 years in Switzerland, in 2023 she got the call from her former Shearman colleague, Richard Price, who at that time was group general counsel at Anglo, about a position back in London.
With Price stepping into a new role as legal and corporate affairs director, Southwell was given the opportunity to succeed him as group GC.
‘I knew that Anglo was a company with a lot of ambition, that was very much at the forefront of responsible mining and providing the metals needed for the energy transition. There were a lot of things I was very excited about. And frankly, it was a very big team, so an exciting platform to step into and help them grow.’
And exciting it has been. After a breakneck first three years for Southwell, the company is now gearing up to complete its merger with the Vancouver-based Teck, a deal which is expected to go through in late 2026 or early next year.
‘I think it’s a great deal for the industry,’ Southwell says. ‘Lots of people are looking at consolidation – that’s no secret. When you’re building mega-projects, scale makes a lot of sense, and if you look at our portfolios and values, they’re very complementary, so that’s very exciting to be part of.’
So after a career that has taken her from London to New York, to Switzerland and back to London… could Vancouver be next?
‘Uncertainty is a theme. I genuinely think you have to be okay with that at the moment. I don’t think people have careers for life anymore. If there’s a role for me at Anglo Teck, then I’d love to be part of the next chapter.’
Career timeline
Anglo American – key facts:
Size of legal team: approximately 100
External legal spend: not disclosed
Frequent advisers: Latham & Watkins, Linklaters, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, Webber Wentzel, Torys, Bowmans
Total company revenue: $18.5bn for continuing operations
Employees worldwide: approximately 60,000 employees and contractors
