Glencore sets share price in bumper IPO

 

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.