Bloomberg newsToday 00:11
Several of Glencore Plc’s largest shareholders believe that the company should retain its coal assets, according to people familiar with the matter, throwing a proposed spinoff into doubt.
Glencore, the world’s largest shipper of thermal coal with a market capitalization of about $73 billion, had said it intended to spin the business off within two years of closing a deal to buy the steelmaking coal assets of Teck Resources Ltd.
But major Glencore shareholders believe that the company would be better off retaining its coal business, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The company’s largest shareholders are former Chief Executive Officer Ivan Glasenberg, the Qatar Investment Authority, and BlackRock Inc.
Glencore’s coal business is one of its most profitable units, driving record returns in recent years, and the plan to exit coal and list a new company in New York represented a major strategic pivot under current boss Gary Nagle. The company had long resisted pressure to follow rivals in exiting the business, arguing that the world still needed the dirtiest fuel and that it was more responsible to run the mines itself than sell them.