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GLENCORE

Glencore sets share price in bumper IPO

Swiss-based commodities giant Glencore has set a price for its dual initial public offering in Hong Kong and London, which will be the world's biggest so far this year, a report said on Wednesday.

The Switzerland-based giant has priced its shares at between £4.80 and £5.80 ($7.91-$9.55) for a sale expected to raise about $9.88 billion, Dow Jones Newswires said, citing people familiar with the deal.

Glencore, whose new shares are slated to start trading in the two cities later this month, has said that if the IPO is over-subscribed, it could sell more shares, sending the listing to about $12 billion.

The sale would value Glencore, the world’s biggest commodities trader by revenue, worth up to $60 billion.

The firm is expected to announce more details of the offer later Wednesday. Glencore has already secured $3.1 billion from so-called cornerstone investors, including sovereign wealth funds in Singapore and Abu Dhabi, asset managers and private banks, according to earlier reports.

The IPO is expected to overshadow the $5.5 billion Singapore offering of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing’s Hutchison Port Holdings Trust in March.

Glencore has said it would funds raised by the listing to pay down debt, boost its stake in Kazzinc, a zinc producer with core operations in eastern Kazakhstan, and finance other projects to expand its business.

The sale comes as commodity prices soar amid huge demand from Asia, particularly China and India, for resources to power their economies.

Founded in April 1974 by trader Marc Rich, Glencore operated initially out of a small apartment in central Switzerland’s Zug canton before quickly emerging as a major player in commodities.

From metals, minerals and crude oil, the group moved into agricultural goods and it also purchased its own mines.

GLENCORE

At least 19 illegal miners killed at subsidiary of Swiss-based Glencore

At least 19 illegal miners were killed on Thursday after part of a copper mine collapsed in southeastern DR Congo, Swiss-based mining giant Glencore said.

At least 19 illegal miners killed at subsidiary of Swiss-based Glencore
Photo: AFP

The incident happened when two galleries caved in at a mine in the Kolwezi area operated by Kamoto Copper Company (KCC), a subsidiary of Glencore.

“Tragically there were 19 fatalities today, with possible further unconfirmed fatalities,” Glencore said in a statement, which said there had been recurrent problems with illicit mining on its concessions.

Other reports suggest the death toll could be higher. 

The Congolese site Actualite.CD reported at least 36 deaths.

“The illegal artisanal miners were working two galleries in benches overlooking the extraction area. Two of these galleries caved in,” the company said.

Glencore said KCC had observed a “growing presence” of illegal miners, with on average 2,000 people a day intruding on its operating sites.

“KCC urges all illegal miners to cease from putting their lives at risk by trespassing on a major industrial site,” Glencore said.

Illegal mining is common and frequently deadly in Democratic Republic of Congo, where safety is often poor and risk-taking high.

Figures indicating the scale of the problem are sketchy, given that many mines are illegal and remote.

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