BHP Billiton to approach regulators

BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers told a briefing in London the company was in continual discussions with regulators and would lodge documents within weeks.

The Anglo-Australian company will lodge the application with the European Commission, the European Union's antitrust regulator, which will also take filings from steel makers.

"It is not months, it is weeks, it is just a process thing," BHP Billiton chief commercial officer Alberto Calderon said.

BHP Billiton in February made a hostile, all equity bid, then valued at $147.4 billion, for Rio Tinto. That offer is contingent on regulatory approval in Europe, Australia and elsewhere.

The European Commission is expected to look closely at the influence a combined BHP-Rio would have on the seaborne iron ore market. Iron ore is a key ingredient in steel making, and steel manufacturers oppose the merger.