Xstrata: No Bid for Anglo American

Updated from 2:57 a.m.

ZUG, Switzerland (TheStreet) - Mining company Xstrata said Thursday it won't make an offer for Anglo American(AAUK).

The U.K.'s Takeover Panel earlier this month gave Xstrata a deadline of Oct. 20 to make a formalized bid for Anglo American, the world's biggest platinum extractor, or walk away from the deal.

Anglo-American rejected a merger-of-equals offer from Xstrata back in June, calling the offer "totally unacceptable."

Xstrata CEO Mick Davis said in a statement Thursday the "compelling strategic rationale for a merger of the two companies remains undiminished." Davis said Xstrata continues to "assess a range of alternative growth options."

A merger of the two companies would have created a mining giant with a market capitalization of almost $70 billion.

Anglo American said it was confident of its future as an independent company.

"The board continues to have full confidence in the value inherent within the group's unique asset base and the additional value that we can drive from it," said the company's chairman, Sir John Parker.

-- Reported by Joseph Woelfel in New York .

Follow TheStreet.com on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints