[miningmx.com] – GLENCORE, the Swiss-based trading and mining group, has proposed a fresh terms for its combination with Xstrata, the company in which it already has a 34% stake, lifting its previous share-based offer.
The proposal, which Xstrata confirmed in an announcement today, could be styled a takeover or a scheme of arrangement. One consequence of the new proposal is that Ivan Glasenberg would lead the combined company.
The new share offer is 3.05 Glencore shares, a 27% premium to the current implied ratio of 2.4 as per Xstrata and Glencore shares today.
In terms of the initial scheme of arrangement, in which Glencore was to offer 2.8 shares for each Xstrata share, Xstrata CEO Mick Davis was to be CEO of the combined unit.
According to the Financial Times, former British prime minister, Tony Blair, helped re-open talks between Glasenberg and Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, the Qatari prime minister, representing the Qatari sovereign wealth fund.
Earlier today, Glencore adjourned its general meeting in which shareholders were to vote on the former scheme of arrangement. It cited “overnight developments”.
The last ditch attempt to save the deal has come as something of a surprise as the prospect of merger failure had been dismissed by Glasenberg as “no big deal”.
