Negotiation News

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Glencore and Xstrata merger postponed

The merger between Xstrata and Glencore has been delayed once again.

18 January 2013

Posted by Edel Quinn

The merger between Xstrata and leading commodities manufacturer Glencore has been pushed back again after the two parties failed to achieve regulatory approval quickly enough.

A deal was originally supposed to go through on December 31st 2012, but this was delayed and it has now been announced that completion of the £19.5 billion longstop is not expected until March 15th 2013.

Both parties blamed "ongoing regulatory processes in South Africa and China" for the hold-up, although competition approval from the European Commission will also still be required.

The merger was first announced in February 2012 when Glencoe said that each Xstrata share would be worth 2.8 shares from its own company.

However, this was later pushed up to 3.05 shares following further business negotiations.

Last month, Swiss-based Glencore announced that it had completed the acquisition of Viterra, expanding its operations in the key grain markets of North America and Australia.