Rio Tinto, Glencore potential merger being discussed as powerhouse global miners seek copper boost

Glencore (GLEN.L), and Rio Tinto (RIO.AX), (RIO.L), held early-stage merger talks last year, but the discussions are no longer active, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, as global miners rush to boost their exposure to copper.

Glencore had approached Rio Tinto late last year for a potential merger, but the talks were brief and never went anywhere, the source told Reuters. Bloomberg News reported earlier on Thursday that the two were in early-stage talks over a deal.

Global miners have been sizing each other up in an attempt to grow their footprint in metals such as copper which are set to be in high demand due to the clean energy transition.

That was the rationale behind top miner BHP’s (BHP.AX), $USD49 billion ($78 billion) bid for smaller peer Anglo American (AAL.L), last year, which ultimately failed due to issues with the deal’s structure.

A merger between Glencore and Rio would be the industry’s largest deal and create a combined company with a market value of around $US158 billion, surpassing BHP’s $US126 billion valuation.

Both Rio and Glencore declined to comment on merger talks. Rio Tinto’s U.S.-listed shares fell 0.7 per cent in extended trading, while Glencore’s stock was up 0.5 per cent.

This would not be the first time the two companies have considered combining. In 2014, Rio Tinto rejected a merger offer from Glencore that would have allowed the combined company to surpass BHP as the world’s biggest miner.

Rio last year agreed to buy U.S.-listed lithium producer Arcadium (ALTM.N), for $US6.7 billion as the world’s top producer of iron ore sought to transform itself into a processor of high-end, low-carbon raw materials.

Reporting by Roushni Nair, Melanie Burton, David French, and Clara Denina, additional reporting by Urvi Dugar and Shivangi Lahiri.