Glencore chief executive Ivan Glasenberg has been trying to buy Xstrata since last February. Photograph: Siu Chiu/Reuters
Glencore has pushed back the date to complete its £50bn takeover of Xstrata for the third time, as it waits for regulatory approval from the Chinese authorities.
The company warned shareholders on Friday it will not now be possible to complete the deal by 15 March, which it said in January was the "long stop date" for finalising the deal.
It is understood Glencore has received conditional approval from all the other key regulators, including the European Union and the South African authorities. But the company failed to set a new deadline by which it hopes to finalise the deal.
Glencore will publish its full-year results next Tuesday and update the market on the progress of the deal.
The long-awaited mega-merger would create a £49bn company with around 130,000 employees in more than 40 countries. It would bring together Xstrata's coal, copper, nickel and zinc mines with Glencore's virtually unchallengeable position trading hundreds of commodities, including oil, coal, metals and grain.
It has taken a year to get this far. Glencore already owns 34% of Xstrata and has been trying to merge with the mining company since last February. But its attempts were thwarted by Qatar, which built a blocking stake and forced Glencore's chief executive, Ivan Glasenberg, to raise his offer price.
The improved terms only came after the former prime minister Tony Blair was drafted in to broker an 11th-hour deal, earning himself a reported $1m (£620,000) for three hours of late night negotiations in Claridge's hotel in London.
Shareholders in Xstrata voted narrowly in favour of the takeover late last year, but twice snubbed a controversial pay plan to retain key managers. A resolution asking investors to back a takeover without the pay scheme won 78.88% of votes in November, limping past the 75% threshold for the deal to be approved. Earlier the same day, Glencore shareholders also approved the takeover.
The company warned shareholders on Friday it will not now be possible to complete the deal by 15 March, which it said in January was the "long stop date" for finalising the deal.
It is understood Glencore has received conditional approval from all the other key regulators, including the European Union and the South African authorities. But the company failed to set a new deadline by which it hopes to finalise the deal.
Glencore will publish its full-year results next Tuesday and update the market on the progress of the deal.
The long-awaited mega-merger would create a £49bn company with around 130,000 employees in more than 40 countries. It would bring together Xstrata's coal, copper, nickel and zinc mines with Glencore's virtually unchallengeable position trading hundreds of commodities, including oil, coal, metals and grain.
It has taken a year to get this far. Glencore already owns 34% of Xstrata and has been trying to merge with the mining company since last February. But its attempts were thwarted by Qatar, which built a blocking stake and forced Glencore's chief executive, Ivan Glasenberg, to raise his offer price.
The improved terms only came after the former prime minister Tony Blair was drafted in to broker an 11th-hour deal, earning himself a reported $1m (£620,000) for three hours of late night negotiations in Claridge's hotel in London.
Shareholders in Xstrata voted narrowly in favour of the takeover late last year, but twice snubbed a controversial pay plan to retain key managers. A resolution asking investors to back a takeover without the pay scheme won 78.88% of votes in November, limping past the 75% threshold for the deal to be approved. Earlier the same day, Glencore shareholders also approved the takeover.
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