Anglo Suffers Hit as Peabody Scraps $3.8 Billion Coal Deal

Anglo American Plc suffered a major setback to its restructuring plans after Peabody Energy Corp. decided to walk away from a $3.8 billion deal to buy its steelmaking coal business following a fire at an Australian mine.

The firms have sharply disagreed over the impact of the March incident at the Moranbah North mine, an asset which Peabody said made up about half of the deal’s value. The US coal producer says the fire constituted a material adverse change — a reason to exit the deal. Anglo says it doesn’t constitute an MAC, and plans to start arbitration to seek damages for wrongful termination.