Requirements:
You have been instructed to address the following points in your briefing note.
1. Impact on Balance Sheet
Discuss what Anglo American’s 2020 balance sheet would have looked like without the South African thermal coal operations. If you can quantify the impact, do so, and assume that any difference between the assets and liabilities to be removed in the demerger is applied to retained earnings. Discuss whether the loss of these assets and liabilities is material, and whether the financial position of the company is better or worse without them.