Mining companies Glencore and Rio Tinto in talks over £190bn merger to create world’s biggest

Two of the biggest companies on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) are in talks over a merger worth up to £190bn, which would make the resulting firm the world’s largest mining corporation.

Glencore and Rio Tinto are in preliminary discussions over the deal, the former confirmed, which could see some or all of their operations combined.

The larger firm, Rio Tinto, would be expected to make a takeover bid for Glencore, which itself has a market capitalisation value of £48.5bn on the LSE and rose in share price by more than 9 per cent on Friday morning.

Stock market reactions were less impressive from Rio Tinto’s perspective, as shares in London fell almost 2 per cent on overpayment concerns.

The Financial Times estimates a total merger could result in a company worth in excess of $260bn (£193bn), which would be the third-largest on the LSE.

At the end of 2025, Glencore insisted it wanted to become the “biggest copper producer in the world”, with the metal this week hitting an all-time high price in excess of $13,300 per tonne.

It is expected there may be a market shortfall of up to 10m tonnes by 2040, according to current usage growth projections.

A little more than a year ago, the pair were involved in talks which broke down over valuation concerns and questions over the CEO. Rio Tinto has changed its chief executive since then. However, some industry experts have cautioned that it is far from assured that a deal will go through this time.

“We've seen this before, where deal talks in this industry roll on for a few months and then fall apart. People overestimate the benefits that can be had by doing these mergers, and that usually comes out after a few months of due diligence,” Michael Field, chief equity strategist at investment research firm Morningstar.

IG’s chief market analyst, Chris Beauchamp, on the other hand, pointed out that the mix of approaches between the two might make it an ideal fit. “The scramble for copper as demand for the metal rises has lit a fire under the two giants, who have seen previous potential partners run off into the sunset together. With fewer candidates available, Rio and Glencore have been bounced into their own marriage of equals, though the details still have to be ironed out - Glencore's likely move out of coal increases its attractiveness for Rio, which exited that business before the pandemic, and should help the merger process move forward,” he said.

Rio Tinto now has until 5 February to either make an offer to buy Glencore, or else state that it does not intend to do so, per takeover rules in the UK.