Shares in Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) were marked down this week, as it emerged that a leading bidder had dropped out of the race to buy the group’s giant Las Bambas copper mine in Peru. The sale was forced by Chinese regulators as a condition of the Glencore Xstrata merger, but the decision by Chinalco leaves the way open for rival bidder MMG (a subsidiary of China's Minmetals) to pursue the deal, although analysts have cast doubt on MMG’s ability to meet the estimated $5.9bn (£3.64bn) price tag. Either way, the commodities giant won’t meet its target of hiving off the mine before Christmas.
The news followed a week or so after Glencore Xstrata started trading on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The group trotted out the standard line about “broadening its shareholder base”, but observers point to the fact that a listing in Jo'burg would enable the group to buy-up undervalued local assets with its paper, as opposed to cash.
