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Komfie Manalo, Opalesque Asia:

American activist hedge fund Elliott Management issued a scathing attack against Australian resource company BHP Billiton and called for the immediate halt to the firm's chronic underperformance, review of entire petroleum strategy and a new approach on the planned unification.

Elliott issued the response after the BHP board rejected its earlier proposal for a wholesale structural overhaul of the Anglo-Australian mining giant. The proposals were contained in the hedge fund's comprehensive Shareholder Value Unlock Plan published on April 10, which offered a range of solutions to increase value and improve capital returns to shareholders.

Two days after Elliott published its proposals, BHP launched a full-throated rebuttal of hedge fund plan by responding vociferously by means of a press release, conference call and presentation to the detailed letter and presentation sent from Paul Singer's activist fund to its board. BHP said that all of Elliott's proposals had been considered at length and had fallen short of warranting pursuit.

Elliott's key proposals had focused on unifying the dual-listing structure (DLC) across the U.K. and Australia into a single Australian entity, demerging and listing BHP's U.S. petroleum business and developing a consistent capital return program for shareholders.

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