Brookfield Prime Property Fund said South32 would take on 8300 square metres of currently vacant space at 108 St Georges Terrace, the former Bankwest Tower.

If the demerger is approved in May, the parties will ink a formal deal for a 10.5-year lease starting in May.

BHP can terminate the conditional agreement if the demerger doesn’t go ahead, though it will have to pay Brookfield compensation.

It is expected that South32 will take on naming rights of the 50-storey tower, Perth’s third-tallest building.

BHP’s Perth headquarters at Brookfield Place is the second-tallest building in Perth, but will have some spare floor space once the South32 employees move out.

South32 will hold the Cannington mine in Queensland, the Worsley alumina refinery in Western Australia, the Hillside smelter in South Africa and Mozal smelter in Mozambique, as well as a non-operated asset in Brazil, Illawarra Coal in New South Wales, Energy Coal South Africa, the Cerro Matoso nickel mine in Colombia, the TEMCO and GEMCO assets in Australia and Hotazel and Metalloys assets in South Africa in manganese.

The company is expected to have around 25,000 employees worldwide and will have a regional office in Johannesburg.

South32 is expected to list in Australia by mid-year, with secondary listings in Johannesburg and London.