Premier-eFinance: Glencore on the path to purchase Australian nickel producer.

Aug. 26, 2011 - PRLog -- In a deal that values the Australian nickel producer at $1.07 billion, Glencore is aiming for full ownership.
Glencore, which already owns 73% of Minara, is offering around $0.91 per share in cash, almost 36% higher than the mining firm’s August 23rd closing price, Premier-eFinance has learned. The offer is due to expire on October 10th.

For Glencore, which went public earlier this year, this will be the latest in an acquisition drive. In July it increased its holding in the PolyMet Mining Corp. and a few days later, the commodities giant bought a 70% stake in a copper project in Peru.

Deal- making has been the trend for Glencore for some time as the company looks to expand beyond trading and in the last 20 years it has acquired stakes in mining assets acround the world, Premier eFinance research shows.

In 1997, the Switzerland based multinational acquired a chunk of Kazzinc, a Kazakhstan zinc miner, It currently owns 34.5% of Xstrata, one of the world’s largest mining firms. These industrial investments are now responsible for the majority of Glencore’s $6.1 annual profit.

Analysts have told Premier-eFinance that they expect Glencore’s deal-making to increase after the firm’s successful public listing, since this gave the company the flexibility to make purchases with cash and stock, enabling it to pursue larger targets such as Xstrata.

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