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Business View Australia - February 2015 21
The new company BHP Billiton intends to cre-
ate through its proposed demerger will be called
South32.
The majority of South32’s selected assets are locat-
ed in the southern hemisphere with its two regional
centers – Australia and South Africa – linked by the
32nd parallel south line of latitude. The company’s
name represents this footprint and its regional ap-
proach to managing its operations.
GrahamKerr, chief executive officer elect of South32,
said “The naming of South32 is a major step in the
setup of our company. Our heritage and the places
in which we operate are an important part of our
identity. While South32 is grounded in the south-
ern hemisphere, we will retain our global reach and
ambition as we seek to exceed the expectations of
a global shareholder base. The diversity of our em-
ployees, commodities, customers and communities
will give the new company great strength, which is
represented by the woven pattern of our logo.
“Many of our assets are among the most attractive
in their respective commodities and all have ben-
efited from BHP Billiton’s structured approach to
improving safety and performance. As we move to
a regional model and develop a fit-for-purpose strat-
egy, we have the potential to further improve per-
formance. This would enable South32’s assets to
reach their full potential and benefit our sharehold-
ers, employees and communities.”
Kerr said that a wide range of options had been
considered when selecting a name for the company,
including suggestions from employees across BHP
Billiton.
“As we continue to build South32 we are keen to en-
sure the views of our people are woven through the
foundations of the company,” he said. “I am proud
to say that a suggestion from one of the new com-
pany’s employees was the basis for the name we
have selected as our identity.
“The demerger remains on track to be completed
in the first half of the 2015 calendar year. Following
the recent announcement of additional members of
our experienced and high caliber senior executive
team and the third party approvals already achieved
at this stage, we are progressing well against plan.”