According to a report in the Financial Times, Anglo has appointed Goldman Sachs as an adviser to its bid, which was prompted by the Macarthur board’s rejection of Peabody and Arcelor Mittal’s “opportunistic” offer,

Peabody and ArcelorMittal formed a new company, PEAMCoal, which is offering $A15.50 per Macarthur Coal share plus a final 16c dividend. Macarthur is believed to be in discussions with at least one other suitor.

In its bidder’s statement PEAMCoal accused Macarthur of ''persistently falling short of earnings and growth targets''.

Macarthur recently raised the stakes for joint bidders Peabody Energy and ArcelorMittal in their bid for the company by announcing 66 million tonnes of new inferred coal resources at its Yeerun deposit in Queensland.

Anglo American’s Queensland metallurgical coal mines are well positioned to integrate with Macarthur’s PCI coal mines in the Bowen Basin.

Anglo American’s metallurgical coal business put on a “fantastic’ ramp-up of production in the second quarter after the floods that swept through Queensland in the first quarter, chief executive Cynthia Carroll said.

Speaking at the release of the company’s global half-yearly profit announcement earlier this year, Carroll said metallurgical coal made a significant contribution to the company’s first half operating profit, which is up 40% year-on-year to $US6 billion.

“In the case of metallurgical coal, we've seen a fantastic increase in response in terms of production; 77% up in the second quarter versus the first quarter of this year,” she said.