• Rio Tinto drops Glencore merger talks after failing to reach agreement
• Proposed deal valued combined miner above $200 billion
• Copper synergies attractive, but valuation, culture and regulatory hurdles remain

Rio Tinto said on Thursday, Feb. 5, that it had dropped merger plans with Swiss miner Glencore after the two sides failed to reach an agreement that would create value for its shareholders.

Had it gone ahead, the deal would have created a combined group valued at more than $200 billion, with major operations in iron ore, copper and coal. Following the announcement in early January that the two companies were in talks over a potential combination, Rio Tinto had until Feb. 5 to signal whether it intended to make a formal takeover offer for Glencore under UK takeover rules. Shares in both companies fell after the announcement that talks had ended.

“The key terms of the potential offer were Rio Tinto retaining both the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer roles and delivering a proforma ownership of the combined company which, in our view, significantly undervalued Glencore’s underlying relative value contribution to the combined group, even before consideration of a suitable acquisition control premium,” Glencore said in a statement.

A familiar story

This is not the first time a merger between the two mining giants has been explored and then abandoned. As early as 2014, Glencore approached Rio Tinto with a merger proposal, an attempt swiftly rejected by the Anglo-Australian group’s board, which argued at the time that such a deal would not serve shareholders’ interests. A decade later, the idea resurfaced. According to press reports, the two companies held exploratory discussions in late 2024 on a possible combination, without progressing to formal negotiations.

The recurring interest in a tie-up is partly explained by the complementary nature of the two groups’ asset portfolios, particularly in copper. A key metal for the energy transition, copper is essential for power grids, electric vehicles and renewable energy infrastructure, and is expected to play a strategic role over the next decade. Together, Rio Tinto and Glencore would have built a copper portfolio capable of rivaling that of BHP, the world’s largest mining group by market capitalization, while offering broad geographic and operational diversification.

Significant hurdles remain, however, including differences in corporate culture and regulatory risks. Still, the repeated revival of the idea suggests it has not been definitively shelved. As long as copper remains central to global industrial strategies, the prospect of renewed talks between Rio Tinto and Glencore is likely to continue to loom over the mining industry.

Emiliano Tossou

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