By Anjuli Davies and Freya Berry
LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) - Mining companies and private equity firms are circling Anglo American's AAL.L metallurgical coal assets in Australia, which could be valued at around $1.5 billion in a sale, several sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
Major mining firms BHP Billiton BLT.L , Rio Tinto RIO.L and Glencore GLEN.L , as well as U.S. private equity firm Apollo APO.N , have all signed non-disclosure agreements and are in the running for the process, which is now entering its second round, the sources said.
Anglo American said in February that discussions were underway about selling its Moranbah and Grosvenor assets. The process is being run by Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE:BAC) BAC.N , the sources said.
Anglo, BHP, Glencore and BofA Merrill Lynch declined to comment. Apollo and Rio were not immediately available to comment.