Qatar Holding opens the way for Xstrata-Glencore merger


 

First announced in February, the merger looks to have cleared its final hurdle with Qatar Holdings releasing a statement saying that it will vote in favour at a meeting next week. This shareholder decision comes in the wake of Glencore increasing the amount it will pay for each Xstrata share.

The merger does still need to receive competition approval from the European Commission and there are reports that, in a bid to secure this, Glencore has proposed to sell part of Xstrata’s German operations.

For the 2011 financial year Xstrata recorded operating profits of $5.78 billion, while Glencore reported a figure of $4.07 billion.