BHP proposes all-stock takeover of Anglo American

Buenos dias. We start today with a proposed deal that could bring together two of the world’s largest mining companies.

BHP, the world’s biggest mining group with a market capitalization of A$229bn (US$149bn), is seeking to use an all-stock takeover of Anglo American to expand its portfolio of copper mines, according to people familiar with the matter.

The approach for the 107-year-old company comes as demand for copper is expected to dream because of a global transition away from fossil fuels. The metal is heavily used in renewable energy projects and electric vehicles.

Anglo owns some of the sector’s most coveted copper mines in Peru and Chile, but chief executive Duncan Wanblad has come under intense pressure since December, when the company revealed big downgrades to its production forecasts. Here’s more on what could be one of the industry’s largest transactions in years.

And here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

Economic data: The US announces preliminary first-quarter gross domestic product, the European Central Bank publishes its economic bulletin and GfK has its consumer climate survey for Germany.
Emmanuel Macron: The French president will speak at the Sorbonne in Paris about the future of the continent, nearly seven years after delivering a similar speech at the university.
Companies: Earnings season continues with results from Airbus, Alphabet, AstraZeneca, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Microsoft and more. BP holds its annual general meeting, an event often targeted by environmental activists, as does the London Stock Exchange Group. See our Week Ahead newsletter for the full list.
CBI dinner: The troubled UK business lobby group holds its annual national business dinner in London. A senior government official traditionally addresses the gathering.

Five more top stories

1. Meta’s shares tumbled more than 15 per cent in after-hours trading After Mark Zuckerberg vowed to increase spending and turn the social media group into “the leading AI company in the world.” The chief executive’s remarks and an increase in the company’s capital expenditure guidance rekindled investor fears that he would not control costs at the tech giant. Here’s more from yesterday’s results.

AI dealmaking: The UK competition regulator has taken the first steps towards three more probes into alliances between Big Tech companies and artificial intelligence start-ups.
AI and jobs: Call centers could soon be replaced by AI with chatbots, making the need for human agents “minimal” within the year, the chief of Tata Consultancy Services told the Financial Times.

2. Exclusive: Canary Wharf Group has agreed to a £553mn financing package ahead of debt deadlines, at a time of increased doubt about its appeal to critical office tenants. The financial district landlord said it would extend loans tied to an office building home to EY at 25-30 Churchill Place for five years, alongside two other debt deals. Joshua Oliver has the full story.

3. Ukraine is set to increase long-range attacks inside Russia As an influx of western military aid aims to help Kyiv shape the war “in much stronger ways,” Britain’s defense chief has said. Admiral Sir Tony Radakin acknowledged the downbeat mood surrounding Ukraine’s defense in an interview with the FT, but he stressed that such a gloomy “snapshot” of the war failed to recognize longer trends more in Kyiv’s favour.

US aid: The Pentagon is rushing $1bn in new weapons to Ukraine from US stockpiles after President Joe Biden signed a highly anticipated aid bill yesterday.
Related: The US secretly agreed to send a long-range missile system to Ukraine in February, reversing a decision to withhold the weapons that some feared could dangerously escalate the war with Russia.

4. Europe is less hard-working, less ambitious, more regulated and more risk-averse than the US, according to the boss of Norway’s giant oil fund. The $1.6tn fund’s chief executive told the FT it was “worrisome” that American companies were outpacing their European rivals on innovation and technology, leading to vast outperformance of US shares in the past decade. Read the full interview with Nicolai Tangen.

5. The Labor party has pledged to fully renationalise the UK’s passenger rail network within a first term if it wins the general election, a process that would shut private companies out by folding each operator into state control as their contracts expire over the course of the next parliament. Here are more details on the opposition’s ambitious plan.

UK politics: London votes for its mayor next week, but the Tories’ obvious dislike for the capital heralds defeat for the party, writes Robert Shrimsley.

News in-depth

Nuctech, the Chinese security equipment supplier raided by EU authorities, has long been criticized for its close links to Beijing and has been red-flagged by the US over potential risks to national security. Despite this, the group once headed by former Chinese president Hu Jintao’s son has won more than 160 public tenders in Europe over the past decade, an FT analysis shows, with its products used at border checkpoints to the continent’s biggest seaports. Here’s what we know about the target of Brussels’ new anti-subsidy rules.

We’re also reading. . .

Boeing’s woes: Delivery delays from slowing production at the crisis-stricken plane maker are leading to higher fares and leaner schedules for airlines.
Israel-Hamas war: After six months of grueling conflict with the Jewish state, dissent from Palestinians in Gaza against the militant group is rising.
BYD’s ambitions: The Chinese group’s global plans go well beyond electric vehicles and include everything from solar modules to complex transport systems. Is it trying to do too much?
EU green colonialism: What looks like progressive principle in Europe can come across as hypocritical coercion to middle-income countries on the receiving end, writes Alan Beattie.

Chart of the day

The Conservatives are heading into the next general election defending scores of seats with some of the worst waiting times for routine hospital treatment in England, including safe deep-blue constituencies and those that Labor expects to sweep. An FT analysis highlights the political liability the NHS could pose for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, with waiting times now more than twice as long compared with when his party entered Downing Street.

Take a break from the news

Meet Tokyo’s top female sushi chefs, who are expertly challenging convention in a male-dominated profession. Kana Inagaki profiles the women who have broken through the glass ceiling and mastered the art of making delicious sushi.