Glencore intends to keep Sir John Bond, the chairman of mining group Xstrata, at the helm of the combined companies as the commodities trader prepares to lay out last-ditch, compromise proposals to salvage its $80bn merger.
Ivan Glasenberg, Glencore’s chief executive, on Friday backtracked on the deal negotiated in February, telling Xstrata’s board he would only increase his offer to 3.05 Glencore shares for each of the miner’s if he could be boss of the new company.
The last-minute move by Mr Glasenberg, who had previously suggested he would not budge despite calls from Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund for improved terms, seemingly relaunched the merger as a full-blown takeover and elicited an icy response from the miner’s board.