BHP CEO Sees M&A Capacity; May Target Copper, Energy, Potash

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, has capacity on its balance sheet for opportunistic mergers and acquisitions and may target copper, energy and potash, Chief Executive Officer Marius Kloppers said.

“The balance sheet has got capacity” for sizable M&A, Kloppers, 48, told reporters at a briefing in London. “Opportunity has always been the limiting factor, not ability to fund, and I don’t think that that has changed.”