FTSE flat as investors eye key US jobs data February 3, 2012 THE FTSE was flat in early trading as investors awaited key US jobs data due out later. US non-farm payrolls are forecast to rise by 150,000 after a 200,000 increase in December, while the unemployment rate was expected to remain static at 8.5 per cent. On the domestic data front the UK service industry picked [...]
GLENCORE SET FOR £50BN MEGA-DEAL February 2, 2012 MINING giants Xstrata and Glencore have revealed they are in talks over a merger that would create the world’s fifth largest commodities company, potentially worth over £50bn and with revenues of nearly $200bn. If the deal goes ahead, Glencore’s outspoken chief Ivan Glasenberg is set to cede the chief executive spot to his long-time rival [...]
It ain’t over until Ivan Glasenberg sings February 2, 2012 IT ain’t over till Ivan Glasenberg sings. Everyone knows the rationale for the deal: massive scale, a raft of cost-saving synergies, and a much-improved presence for Glencore in commodity markets. Indeed one of the main reasons the famously secretive Glencore went public was so it could bag Xstrata, whose other shareholders were cold on a [...]
HOW A COMBINED COMPANY WOULD LOOK February 2, 2012 EMPLOYEES 127,500 GLENCORE 57,500 XSTRATA 70,000 REVENUE $175.5BN GLENCORE $145BN* XSTRATA $30.5BN* OPERATING PROFIT $14.2BN GLENCORE $3.8BN* XSTRATA $10.4BN* GLENCORE The world’s largest commodities trading house also extracts, ships and refines raw materials in three groups – metals and minerals; energy products; and agricultural products. XSTRATA One of the world’s biggest mining groups, whose assets [...]
Glenstrata: a company to reckon with February 2, 2012 THE “merger of equals” of Glencore and Xstrata will create a corporate titan worth an estimated £50bn. The firms are headquartered within 3km of each other in Switzerland, and have been the subject of speculation over a possible tie-up for months. A merger would mean a combined workforce of 127,500 with revenue of $175.5bn (£110.9bn). [...]
Directors scrap for positions post-merger February 2, 2012 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 [...]
GOLDMAN’S OUTSPOKEN PRESS AIDE SIGNS OFF February 2, 2012 LUCAS VAN Praag was well-known for firing cerebral, elegantly worded scorn on anyone who crossed paths with Goldman Sachs. So the PR man’s exit from the bank, as confirmed yesterday, was similarly well-phrased. “C’est la vie,” emailed Goldman’s chief spokesman, the logical conclusion to the leak earlier this week that Jake Siewart, former aide to [...]
FTSE sees boost from M&A muted by outlook warnings February 2, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index paused yesterday after recent sharp gains with a rally in miners on the prospects of a big sector merger counterbalanced by warnings from bluechips of a tough year ahead. The FTSE 100 finished 0.1 per cent, or 5.35 points, higher at 5,796.07, retreating from a six-month intra-day high of 5,809.82 after [...]
Glencore in merger talks with Xstrata February 2, 2012 Xstrata said it had received an approach from commodities giant Glencore International that could lead to an all share merger of equals. Miner Xstrata is in talks with Glencore over an all-share merger of equals, it said on Thursday, confirming reports of a deal that could create a combined mining and trading group worth more [...]
Tips to take away from the Ruspetro flotation January 23, 2012 THE successful flotation of Ruspetro, the Russian oil and gas explorer, is being looked on by many in the City as an opportunity to finally get a moribund IPO market off the ground. It’s the first main market listing of the year and it follows a period during which only the most courageous or crazy [...]