MERGING Glencore and Xstrata will create fierce competition for positions on the new board – and most of the potential directors already know each other.
The two firms have a long history of sharing board members and are based just 3km apart in the twin towns of Zug and Baar, Switzerland.
Mick Davis was a Glencore employee when he was appointed as Xstrata’s chief executive in October 2001, ahead of the mining company going public.
The man who appointed him, Glencore’s chief executive Ivan Glasenberg, is now a rival as the two men thrash out details of the merger and decide who gets to run the combined firm. Both are South African and highly competitive.
Three members of Glencore’s board, including Glasenberg, are non-executive directors of Xstrata while Steve Kalmin, Glencore’s chief financial officer, used to work for Xstrata.
Both firms have high profile chairmen, and one man will lose his position. Glencore’s Simon Murray is a former French legionnaire who headed Asian operations for Deutsche Bank, while Xstrata’s Sir John Bond is a former chairman of HSBC and Vodafone.
