Qatar Holding ‘will study Glencore bid’

The Qatar Holding investment fund, the single biggest shareholder in Swiss mining group Xstrata, said yesterday it will examine a revised bid for the firm by commodities giant Glencore. In a statement issued from Doha, Qatar Holding said it would give “careful consideration” to all elements of Glencore’s offer, AFP reported. But Qatar Holding stressed that “it has made no decision yet as to whether or not it would accept the revised proposal”. Qatar Holding’s statement follows Glencore’s increased merger-takeover offer on Friday of 3.05 new Glencore shares for each Xstrata share — an offer it said it would not up a second time. With a 12$ shareholding in Xstrata, Qatar Holding has consistently called since June for a rate of 3.25 Glencore shares for one Xstrata share. Glencore, based in the canton of Baar in the centre of Switzerland, also said it would pay “appropriate” bonuses to Xstrata managers and let Xstrata CEO Mick Davis head the new commodities behemoth for six months, before making way for Glencore chief Ivan Glasenberg. From gulf times.