2015 : YEAR OF THE MEGA MERGERS
‘ A Rio Tinto-Glencore combination would create market leading positions in iron ore , copper , nickel , zinc and coal as well as significant optionality around a number of lesser metals and minerals ’
- Paul Gait , Senior Analyst for Bernstein Research
Ivan Glasenberg , Glencore Chief Executive . iron-ore production .
According to WSJ , discussions of a merger began last summer when shareholders of the two companies started talking .
“ Glencore Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg , one of the company ’ s biggest shareholders , made a personal approach to Rio Tinto Chairman Jan du Plessis over the summer and had a conceptual conversation about a possible merger , a person familiar with the situation said . The conversation was sufficiently serious that Mr . du Plessis took it to the Rio Tinto board , the person said .”
Because U . K . takeover rules prohibit companies from making new deals within six months , we believe this deal gets completed later this summer . Glasenberg has an impressive history of buying assets at the bottom of the market , which includes Xstrata , Viterra and Caracal within the last three years .
Merger expert Ian Hannam , who helped orchestrate the merger of BHP Ltd and Billiton PLC in 2001 , said the corporate marriage appears inevitable . “ If not today , this deal will happen sometime in the near future ,” Bloomberg quoted Hannam .
With Glasenberg at the
21