Commodities Glencore and Rio Tinto are said to have discussed a merger
The raw materials industry is on the move again: The Swiss group Glencore and the British company Rio Tinto have apparently sounded out a merger, according to reports.
17.01.2025, 09:52
SDA
Representatives from both companies have discussed whether they should merge their businesses, the Bloomberg news agency reported on Thursday evening, citing people familiar with the matter.
It is not clear whether the talks are still ongoing. The Financial Times (FT), on the other hand, has learned from insiders that the negotiations have not led to any results. According to this, the first talks took place back in October.
The companies did not wish to comment on the information provided to Bloomberg and the British newspaper. According to the newspaper, the explorations came up in the wake of the failed takeover of Anglo American by the BHP Group. This had prompted competitors to rethink their strategic options.
A race has broken out in the raw materials industry to see who is best positioned for the transformation of the energy industry and decarbonization. Among other things, the market position in lithium and copper is at stake. Glencore and Rio Tinto both have large copper mines. However, Rio Tinto still makes a large proportion of its profits from iron ore, while Glencore is still heavily involved in the coal business.
The boom in iron ore over the past few years is mainly due to steel consumption in China, which is no longer growing as strongly as it used to. Coal is tending to lose importance as an energy source with the global expansion of renewable energies.
De facto, a merger of the two raw materials giants would be a takeover of Glencore by Rio Tinto. The latter is the world's second-largest mining group after BHP with a market capitalization of around 103 billion dollars. Glencore has a market capitalization of a good 55 billion dollars.
Glencore shares gained around two percent to 377.60 pence after the start of trading in London on Friday. Rio Tinto shares rose by 0.9 percent to 4,975 pence. The previous evening, Glencore shares traded in New York had risen by up to nine percent following the publication of the Bloomberg report.
