BHP Billiton BHP
The three reasons
- 1
US$46bn value unlock: demerger (+$15bn) + capital return (+$20bn) + franking credits (+$11bn)
- 2
Management destroyed US$23bn in US onshore petroleum — 78% of value, a -29% IRR
- 3
BHP has underperformed Rio Tinto by 128% since 2008 despite best-in-class assets
Primary demands
- Initiate an in-depth, open and truly independent review of BHP's petroleum business, overseen by a committee including management, shareholder representatives and outside experts
- Full or partial demerger and separate listing of BHP's US petroleum business (South32 precedent)
- Unify the dual-listed company (DLC) structure into a single Australian-incorporated BHP retaining ASX and LSE listings
- Return excess capital to shareholders via disciplined discounted off-market buybacks rather than value-destructive acquisitions
- Monetize c.US$9.7 billion of stranded franking credits via post-unification off-market buybacks
KPIs cited
Pattern membership
Where this document fits across the library's 12 rhetorical / structural patterns.
Notable slides (9)
Notes
Second Elliott presentation on BHP, follow-up to the April 10, 2017 initial Value Unlock Plan. Structured as a direct rebuttal to BHP management's response: each section addresses an alleged management misrepresentation (unification costs, franking credit wastage, diversification benefits, transparency). Rhetorical toolkit is unusually rich: (1) chairman Jac Nasser 'terrific job trading assets' quote juxtaposed with the 86% Permian flip loss to Silverback/Centennial; (2) CEO Mackenzie's Feb-2014 'reshape our company' demerger quote reused against him; (3) a full-bleed press-clippings collage (p.32) attacking BHP on tax avoidance/Singapore marketing hub/Panama Papers; (4) a dramatic red-arrow waterfall (p.8/16) of US onshore value destruction. South32 demerger is the central precedent. Typography/layout is clean institutional Elliott house style (orange + charcoal, Calibri-like sans serif) — good specimen but not Ackman-CP tier (some slides are dense text-only). Section-divider slides with large italic pull-quotes on dark orange gradient (pp. 23, 26, 29) are strong standalone design moments. Outcome: BHP eventually did exit US onshore petroleum (2018 sale to BP for ~$10.8bn) and unified the DLC structure (2022) — substantive activist win, though on Elliott's long timeframe.