GLENCORE is emerging as the pivotal, and potentially obstructive, party in Anglo American’s attempt to unlock the full value of its $50bn tie-up with Teck Resources, as talks over combining neighbouring Chilean copper mines drag on.
Anglo is aiming to complete the merger, unveiled last September as the sector’s largest in years, as soon as next month, pending Chinese regulatory clearance.
Central to the deal’s logic is merging operations at Collahuasi, in which Anglo and Glencore each hold a 44% stake, with Teck’s adjacent Quebrada Blanca complex. Anglo CEO Duncan Wanblad has said such a combination could add $1.4bn a year to earnings, calling the industrial rationale “undeniable”.
But Glencore holds significant leverage over how, and whether, that value materialises, according to a report by the Financial Times on August 30.
A former Anglo executive said the Swiss trader and miner would “demand a serious price” in negotiations over relative mine valuations and operating control. One large Anglo shareholder said Glencore was likely to “play hardball” as it held “the stronger bargaining position” in the talks.
Wanblad told the Financial Times discussions were under way in July, saying the priority was agreeing valuations before splitting the synergy benefits between the parties. Glencore declined to comment, the newspaper said.
The stakes reflect copper’s growing strategic importance, with prices near record highs in August amid supply constraints. The metal’s scarcity previously drove BHP’s failed 2024 approach for Anglo and abortive Glencore-Rio Tinto merger talks.
