BHP Billiton’s spin-off is named South32

BHP Billiton has finally announced the name of its spin-off company to be ‘South32’, which will hold all of BHP’s non-core assets like aluminium, nickel, silver and manganese mines, as well as some of its coal assets.

The name was suggested by an employee driven by the fact that most of the company’s assets are located in the southern hemisphere with the 32nd latitude connecting Australia and South Africa, the two most important countries in terms of presence.

Graham Kerr, the chief executive elect of the South32 says that the name reflects their heritage and the places where they operate and it is a very important part of their identity.

BHP had first announced the $15 billion worth spin-off company featuring all of its non-core assets in April. South32 will have a primary listing in Australia, a secondary listing in South Africa and a standard listing in London. There is also the brewing demerger of the historical BHP-Billiton duo that is due to be carried out in the first half of 2015.

South32’s head office will be in Perth, Australia, with a regional head office and global shared services centre located in Johannesburg, South Africa.