Rio Tinto and Glencore restart talks over $260 billion mega-merger

Rio Tinto and Glencore have confirmed they are back in talks about a possible $260 billion megadeal that could form the world’s largest mining firm.

Rio Tinto’s Australia-listed shares fell 6.3% on Friday. Shares of Glencore are expected to jump as much as 10% when European markets open, news agency Reuters said Friday, citing traders.

“Rio Tinto and Glencore have been engaging in preliminary discussions about a possible combination of some or all of their businesses, which could include an all-share merger between Rio Tinto and Glencore,” Rio Tinto, the larger of the two companies, said in a statement early Friday morning.

“The parties’ current expectation is that any merger transaction would be effected through the acquisition of Glencore by Rio Tinto by way of a Court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement.”

CNBC has approached both companies for further comment. Rio Tinto said it had until 5 p.m. London time (12 p.m. ET) on Feb. 5 to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for Glencore or announce that it does not intend to make an offer.

Rio Tinto and Glencore discussed a merger in late 2024, but talks collapsed over issues such as valuation and the future of Glencore’s coal mines.

Back in August, Rio Tinto CEO Simon Trott announced a reorganization of the business. Trott promised to cut costs and unlock up to $10 billion from its asset base by making the company focus on three core product groups — iron ore, aluminium and lithium and copper.

A deal between Rio Tinto and Glencore would add to recent M&A activity in the mining sector, after Anglo American and Canada’s Teck Resources agreed to merge in a $66 billion deal last September. The merger is expected to create one of the world’s top five copper producers.

Renewed talks between Glencore and Rio Tinto have also been by rising demand for copper, with prices of the red metal hitting an all-time high of $13,000 a ton this week.