BHP affirmed as ASX giant

BHP has knocked Commonwealth Bank off the ASX top spot as a scheme of arrangement unifying the miner’s UK and Australian corporate entities takes effect on the stock exchange.

BHP confirmed this morning that the unification of its corporate structure had come into play as of  January 28, after shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of the restructure earlier this month.  

It means that some 2.1 billion existing BHP shares have been redomiciled and landed on the ASX today, taking the number of shares on its register to just over 5 billion.

The ‘new limited shares’ commenced trading on the ASX at 10:00am AEDT on a deferred settlement basis under the ticker “BHPN”.

The move also hikes BHP’s market capitalisation to about $237.2 billion, making it the largest stock on the exchange.

It replaces Commonwealth Bank of Australia, with an approximate market cap or $160.9 billion.

Broadly, BHP has said a simpler corporate structure will make the company simpler and more agile.

It has previously flagged that operating under one entity would make potential future demergers and equity raising transactions simpler, a key factor as it seeks to expand its portfolio in line with global decarbonisation trends.

BHP shares are down 1.41 per cent to trade at $46.26.