👁👁Does Glencore Have eCobalt in It's Sights?👁👁 Ivan Glasenberg: Glencore still on acquisition trail
Glencore chief Ivan Glasenberg: ‘We always look opportunistically’ Glencore chief executive Ivan Glasenberg has talked up the company’s potential for further acquisitions, amid the latest uncertainty over Yancoal Australia’s $US2.69 billion ($3.4bn) purchase of Rio Tinto’s Coal & Allied business.
Glencore has long harboured interest in the Coal & Allied assets, given the potential synergies with its own coalmines in NSW, but was twice outbid for them by the Chinese-backed Yancoal. The two parties subsequently agreed a separate deal under which Glencore would buy 49 per cent of Coal & Allied’s Hunter Valley operations from Yancoal for $US1.14bn plus a share of royalties.
But Hong Kong-based hedge fund Senrigan Capital Group this week lodged an application with the Takeovers Panel, arguing that the proposed deal would be prejudicial to minority shareholders in ASX-listed Yancoal.
While Mr Glasenberg said he would not comment about the merits of the Takeovers Panel application, he told reporters yesterday that the company would be watching the situation closely.
“We are sitting on the side watching. If it doesn’t go through then we will have to assess the situation,” Mr Glasenberg said.
He said the company was “always” looking at potential acquisition opportunities.
“We always look opportunistically,” he said.
“If opportunities come, like the Hunter Valley assets came and they were available, then we look to buy them. It has got to meet the hurdle rates that Glencore has.”
The comments came as the miner and commodity trader reported earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation for the first half of $US6.74bn, up 68 per cent compared to a year earlier but just shy of analyst expectations.
Net debt fell to $US13.9bn, down 11 per cent from one year ago.
Mr Glasenberg said the combination of the “best global economic growth momentum seen in recent years” and the longer-term impact of a large-scale rollout of electric vehicles and energy storage systems would underpin demand for numerous commodities.
In addition to its extensive coalmining interests on Australia’s east coast, Glencore also owns the big Murrin Murrin nickel laterite mine in Western Australia.
Murrin Murrin is now the only nickel laterite operation still in production in Australia, after Canada’s First Quantum Minerals on Wednesday announced it would shutter its Ravensthorpe nickel mine in WA’s southwest.
Mr Glasenberg said Murrin Murrin’s high production of cobalt — which is experiencing a price surge amid rising demand from carmakers and instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world’s biggest producer — meant the mine was on a solid footing despite weakness in the nickel market. Unlike many nickel laterite mines, Mr Glasenberg said Murrin Murrin was also able to produce nickel that could be used in the growing electric vehicle industry.
“Murrin Murrin gets a pretty good cobalt credit so it’s in a very advantageous position,” Mr Glasenberg said.
“The nickel they produce is highly desired by the battery market so they get the benefit of it and the premium on the type of nickel they produce. So Murrin will survive and it’s now fairly cash positive and business as usual over there.”
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/ivan-glasenberg-glencore-still-on-acquisition-trail/news-story/bdd31b2650e6842110b7256be729f170