Glencore’s $260 billion tie-up with Rio Tinto fell apart, but the appetite for scale clearly did not. Chief executive Gary Nagle is still talking like a man who believes mining needs bigger platforms to matter in a copper-hungry world. If the mega-merger is off, the megaphone is still on.
Two weeks after merger talks with Rio Tinto collapsed, Nagle resurfaced with a familiar message. Consolidation still makes sense. Glencore will look at big deals. Shareholders, he suggested, want the company to remain open to transformative combinations.
The Rio discussions reportedly broke down over valuation. Under U.K. takeover rules, the two sides are now subject to a six-month cooling-off period, though that can be shortened under certain circumstances. In theory, that shuts the door. In practice, it leaves it ajar.
Alongside the M&A signaling, Glencore reported 2025 results that were solid but hardly spectacular. Adjusted EBITDA slipped to about $13.5 billion from $14.4 billion the year before, reflecting weaker coal prices that hit the energy and steelmaking coal division. The company remains one of the most profitable coal producers in the world, but when coal prices ease, earnings follow.
Metals were more supportive. Copper in particular helped offset some of the energy drag, aided by supply tightness and bouts of market dislocation linked to shifting US trade policy. Glencore also pointed to strong performance in its marketing division, which thrives on volatility and arbitrage.
The group announced roughly $2 billion in shareholder returns, reinforcing the idea that it can still generate meaningful cash without a mega-deal. It also highlighted progress on a land access agreement at its Kamoto Copper Company operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The deal is expected to extend mine life and support a broader plan to lift copper output meaningfully over the next decade.
So the message was twofold. The standalone case works. But the door to something much bigger remains open.
This is not just about corporate ego. It is about copper.
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Copper has become the mining sector’s golden ticket. It sits at the heart of electrification, grid expansion, renewables, electric vehicles, and the AI-driven data center build-out. Every macro theme investors care about seems to run through a copper wire somewhere. That gives copper producers narrative power.
Source: finance.yahoo.com
