Grupo Mexico Scraps Southern Copper, Asarco Merger Proposal

Grupo Mexico SAB, the nation’s largest mining company, dropped plans to merge its Asarco LLC and Southern Copper Corp. businesses into a single unit within its mining business after some shareholders challenged the plan.

Grupo Mexico withdrew its offer “in light of our recent discussions and other developments,” according to an Oct. 28 letter to Phoenix-based Southern Copper, which didn’t provide further details. Grupo Mexico, the owner of 81 percent of Southern Copper, had offered investors 1.237 shares of its Americas unit for each Southern Copper share in July 2010.