Glencore's platinum promise

Glencore (GLEN) has revealed that it will unload its 23.9 per cent stake in Lonmin (LMI). This will be achieved by way of an "in specie" distribution to shareholders, proportionate to their holdings in the Switzerland-based commodities giant. The stake is seen by management as excess baggage, a residual element of 2013's 'merger of equals' with Xstrata (Xstrata had secured the Lonmin stake five years earlier as part of an aborted takeover attempt). Glencore doesn't trade in platinum group metals (PGM), so the move is hardly surprising, particularly when you consider the PGM market remained stagnant even after last year's prolonged industrial strife in South Africa.