By Clara Denina and Scott Murdoch
Summary
- One option is all-share buyout of Glencore by Rio Tinto
- Deal would create world's biggest miner by market value, topping BHP
- Rio Tinto's Australian shares fall as much as 6.4% in biggest intraday fall since 2022
- Miners have been racing to bulk up in copper
LONDON/SYDNEY, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Glencore (GLEN.L), opens new tab and Rio Tinto (RIO.L), opens new tab said late on Thursday they were in early buyout talks that could potentially create the world's largest mining company with a combined market value of nearly $207 billion.
Global miners are racing to bulk up in metals like copper, set to benefit from the global energy transition, and that has sparked a wave of project expansions and takeover attempts.
London-listed Anglo American (AAL.L), opens new tab and Canada's Teck Resources (TECKb.TO), opens new tab are nearing the finish line on a merger to create a $53 billion copper-focused heavyweight.
The discussions between Rio Tinto and Glencore about combining some or all of their businesses are the second round of talks in just over a year between the two companies, after Glencore approached Rio Tinto in late 2024 but a deal did not proceed.
The two companies said one option would include an all-share buyout of Glencore by Rio Tinto. There was no certainty that the terms of any deal or offer would be agreed upon, the miners said after the Financial Times first reported the revived talks.
U.S.-listed shares of Glencore were up 6% after the talks were confirmed. But Rio Tinto's Australian-listed shares (RIO.AX), opens new tab fell as much as 6.4%, the biggest intraday fall since July 2022, against a broader positive market.
"There is a risk (Rio) could overpay. It comes down to price, but if they have to pay a big premium there is a risk that a transaction could destroy some value for shareholders, said Tim Hillier, an analyst at fund manager Allan Gray, which is a Rio Tinto investor.
"Rio has a strong pipeline of internal high-growth projects. It’s not clear why they need to look externally for things to do," he added.
Under UK takeover rules, Rio Tinto has until February 5 to make a formal offer for Glencore or say it will not proceed.
Rio Tinto, the world's biggest iron ore miner, has a market capitalisation of about $142 billion. Glencore, one of the world's largest base metal producers, is valued at $65 billion as of its last close.
The transaction would be the world's largest-ever mining deal if completed, according to LSEG data, and the market value of the combined company would top Australia's BHP Group (BHP.AX), opens new tab at $161 billion. BHP shares were up 0.6% in early Australian trade on Friday.
CULTURAL QUESTIONS
Rio Tinto and Glencore restarted deal talks at the end of 2025, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.
Rio Tinto has undergone significant changes since the 2024 approach by Glencore. New Rio Tinto CEO Simon Trott was selected after the company's chairman expressed a preference for a leader more open to large-scale deals than his predecessor, Jakob Stausholm, who was in charge when the miner turned down Glencore's approach in late 2024.
Under Trott, who took over in August, Rio Tinto is focused on becoming leaner with fewer non-core assets.
Andy Forster, senior investment officer at Rio Tinto shareholder Argo Investments, said the deal made sense if the terms were right for both companies.
"The biggest question mark would be the culture of the two companies as Glencore clearly has trading background, is very opportunistic and results-focused, some of those aspects of their culture could actually be good for Rio," he said. "I hope Rio stays disciplined but it makes sense to look at deals where value can be extracted by both parties."
Rio Tinto and Glencore are both shifting their focus towards copper, a commodity expected to be in high demand as the world adopts greener forms of energy and the take-up of power-hungry artificial intelligence gains ground.
Before the deal talks were announced, Rio Tinto's London-listed shares had risen 35% since Trott took over in August, while Glencore's shares were up 41% over the same period in line with price increases for the materials they produce, particularly copper.
Growth in the artificial intelligence and defence sectors will boost global copper demand 50% by 2040, but supplies are expected to fall short by more than 10 million metric tons annually without more recycling and mining, consultancy S&P Global said on Thursday.
(This story has been corrected to say that Rio Tinto's share price drop was the biggest intraday fall since July 2022, not the lowest price since 2022, in the third bullet and paragraph 6)
Reporting by Clara Denina in London and Scott Murdoch in Sydney; Additional reporting by Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Veronica Brown and Jamie Freed
