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Rio Tinto and Glencore held talks last year to merge some or all of their businesses, a sign of the miners’ efforts to secure metals needed for the energy transition and keep executives focused. on large-scale transactions.
The London-listed company held early-stage talks as recently as October, but discussions did not progress, according to people familiar with the matter.
A full merger of Rio Tinto and Glencore, which have market capitalizations of $103 billion and $55 billion respectively, would rank among the biggest deals ever in the mining industry.
The talks between the two companies come after BHP Billiton’s failed £39bn takeover of Anglo American last year, prompting rivals to re-examine strategic options.
BHP is interested in Anglo American’s copper mines because the metal is used in renewable energy projects and electric vehicles.
Glencore and Rio Tinto both declined to comment. Bloomberg first reported that Rio Tinto and Glencore had discussed merging their businesses.
Rio Tinto’s Australian-listed shares fell 1.8% in early trading in Sydney before recovering to 1.4%.
Last year, demand for commodities such as copper, lithium and aluminum needed to decarbonize the global economy triggered a flurry of deal activity in the mining industry.
Rio Tinto announced last year that it would spend $7 billion to acquire Arcadium Lithium to expand its business in the field of electric vehicle battery metals.
People close to the company said it was still digesting the deal.
The activist shareholder movement is also pushing for Rio Tinto to move its main listing from London to Sydney to enable more share trading in the future.
Glencore, which has a large commodities trading business and mining operations, has been debating the future of its coal business.
The company said in 2023 that it would spin off its coal mines into independent listed businesses, but changed its mind last year and decided to keep the mines.
In 2014, Rio Tinto rejected a takeover bid from Glencore.
