Glencore/xstrata Merger details likely this week

Top executives at commodities trader Glencore and producer Xstrata are hammering out the final details of an $80 billion (R598bn) tie-up to seal the industry’s largest ever takeover, which may be announced by tomorrow. Xstrata, in which Glencore already has a 34 percent stake, announced last week it had been approached by the diversified commodities trader and was in discussions over an all-share “merger of equals”, a deal that would be the largest in the sector, eclipsing Rio Tinto’s takeover of Alcan in 2007. The agreement is set to be announced when Xstrata publishes its 2011 results. One source involved in the proceedings described the mood behind the scenes over the weekend as “constructive”, and others brushed off concerns that the latest round of talks would collapse over either of the two hurdles that have tripped them up in the past – governance and price. – Reuters Source