Glencore and Xstrata close to announcing their merger

published 2 February 2012

Commodity trader Glencore and mining sector heavyweight Xstrata may be close to announcing their merger, perhaps even as soon as this week, said two people with knowledge of the confidential plans, Bloomberg reports.

The rationale behind the transaction apparently is to combine the companies' marketing and operations expertise, respectively. That would allow them to better compete with rivals such as BHP Billiton or Rio Tinto.

If carried out the operation would see the creation of a combined £52bn company, might generate savings of approximately $700m and would see the reunification of two firms which parted ways a decade ago.