Xstrata asks for more time to decide on Glencore bid

The Takeover Panel has granted a request to extend the deadline by which the independent non-executive Xstrata directors will announce their response to Glencore's revised merger proposal.

The extension was requested to enable Xstrata's independent non-executive directors to take full account of feedback from consultation with key Xstrata shareholders. The new deadline is 07:00 on Monday, October 1st, an extension to the original period of one week.

What started life as a proposed "merger of equals" has evolved into something more recognisable as a takeover and, if not a hostile one, then it is certain that relations between the two parties are not as matey as they were, after Glencore's first stab at a revised offer sidelined Xstrata's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mick Davies.

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Under the original plan, Davies was to be the CEO of the combined group, dubbed "Glenstrata". When Xstrata shareholders grumbled that the merger terms were not very generous, Glencore proposed upping the terms while at the same time suggesting its own CEO, Ivan Glasenberg, take on the CEO role at the merged group.

That may well have put noses out of joint in the Xstrata board room and so when Glencore formally upped its share swap offer, from 2.8 Glencore shares for every Xstrata share to a ratio of 3.05:1, it included a face-saving proposal that would see Davies have six months driving the Glenstrata car, before handing the keys over to Glasenberg.

JH