Sir John Parker will be named the new chairman of Anglo American today in a move that will further bolster the miner’s defence against a merger approach from Xstrata.

Sir John is expected to step down from the chairmanship of Mondi, the paper company that was spun out of Anglo two years ago, but will retain the chairmanship of National Grid.

The appointment of a respected City figure will strengthen Anglo at a time when its independence has been challenged by Xstrata.

The rival miner, listed in London and Switzerland, has proposed a merger of equals but this has been rejected by Anglo shareholders as undervaluing the company’s assets.

Anglo’s share price rose 87½p to £16.51 yesterday after The Times revealed that all its leading investors had rejected a nil-premium merger. They are now waiting to see if Xstrata can raise up to £10 billion to sweeten the deal and give Anglo shareholders a 30 to 50 per cent premium.

Sir John is expected to endorse the rejection of Xstrata’s bid and will also back Cynthia Carroll, the under-fire chief executive. His appointment is expected to stabilise Anglo after the Xstrata approach and help to convince investors not to sell out cheaply.

Anglo’s independent directors had drawn up a shortlist of three for the chairmanship last month: Sir John; Paolo Scaroni, who was formerly with Pilkington, the glassmaker; and Jeroen van der Veer, the outgoing chief executive of Shell.

When Anglo first began searching for a chairman to take over from Sir Mark Moody-Stuart last year, Sir John emerged as the favourite candidate. But there is understood to have been a split on the Anglo board and his appointment was blocked by South African directors. Sir Mark extended his term by 12 months because of the failure to agree on his replacement.

The South African Government is thought to have expressed concern about the country losing influence with Anglo, particularly after the appointment of the first non-South African chief executive two years ago. Anglo has deep roots in the country and is its largest private sector employer with more than 100,000 staff there. The ANC-led Government is also Anglo’s largest shareholder through state pension funds.

Fred Phaswana, the chairman of Anglo Platinum, an Anglo subsidiary, was considered as an alternative candidate last year but he was blocked by City investors who did not know him. This led to accusations of racism from the Government, which has continued to urge a black candidate be considered for chairman.

Susan Shabangu, the Mining Minister, said yesterday: “Anglo American is rooted in South Africa and it is one of the single biggest players in the South African economy. Therefore, in line with government policy, we would prefer to have a black South African as the chairperson of Anglo. We believe this would be a positive signal going forward.”

But Anglo has insisted that as a global group it should not restrict its search to one country. Its assets are increasingly located outside South Africa and it moved its base to London a decade ago. Anglo was founded by Sir Ernest Oppenheimer in 1917 to mine gold near Johannesburg.

Times Recommends

• Lies and cover-up at MG Rover exposed by report
• High oil prices push manufacturing costs up
• Primark founder steps down as chief executive