Commodity giants glencore and xstrata consider merger

However, it is still open whether an offer will be made. Both companies are listed on the london stock exchange and have their headquarters in switzerland for tax reasons, among others. Glencore currently has a market value of just under 30 billion pounds, while xstrata is currently worth around 33 billion pounds on the stock exchange.

If the 34 percent stake that glencore already holds in xstrata is excluded from the valuation, the two companies are worth around 52 billion pounds (around 62 billion euros). According to information from the news agency bloomberg, a merger could be announced as early as this week. The agency refers to two persons familiar with the matter.

A merger reunited two companies that had been split a decade ago. Xstrata had bought glencore’s mines in australia and south africa for more than two billion dollars and then went public on the london stock exchange.

But even today, the two companies are still quite closely intertwined. According to analysts, a merger could bring savings of up to 700 million US dollars. A merger would combine the mining expertise and trading competence of the two companies, an analyst explained: "two and two together should therefore make five."