BHP told bending to activists poses risks for debt investors

BHP Billiton’s new chairman Ken MacKenzie is grappling with a simmering campaign by activist shareholders -- moving too far to appease them could risk unsettling debt investors who own the world’s biggest miner’s $24-billion of bonds. The campaign by funds including billionaire Paul Singer’s Elliott Management, could see MacKenzie’s board sanction more shareholder-friendly measures such as buybacks and special dividends, threatening to introduce more volatility to BHP’s credit profile and raising a risk of a rating downgrade, according to Fitch Ratings. MacKenzie is scheduled to address BHP’s annual meeting Thursday.