AUSTRALIA

Steel and Energy Firm Completes Magma Takeover: Broken Hill Proprietary Co. said its $2.40-billion takeover bid for Magma Copper Co. has succeeded, that it has acquired 87% of the Tucson, Ariz.-based company. Magma will become part of the new BHP Copper Group, which is expected to become the world’s No. 2 producer of copper, behind Codelco of Chile, and ahead of No. 3 Phelps Dodge Corp. of Arizona. Burgess Winter, Magma president and chief executive, will head the new company. BHP is Australia’s largest industrial and natural resources company, with about 52,000 employees in 50 countries. Its U.S. operations include coal mining, oil and gas exploration and production and steel processing. Magma has copper operations in Arizona, Nevada and Peru.