Glencore shares rose sharply in London after a report said the embattled commodities trader and miner would listen to offers for the company.
The shares jumped by as much as 20% and were up more than 9% at 104p when the market settled. The rise followed a surge of more than 70% by the company’s shares traded on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
The Telegraph reported on Sunday that Glencore’s board was open to offers for the whole of the company but that management thought a bid was unlikely to value the company highly enough in the current market.
In response to the extraordinary rise in the company’s shares, the Hong Kong stock exchange told Glencore to clear up the matter in a statement. The company said it was not aware of any information that would support such a rise.
Glencore said: “The board of directors of Glencore plc has noted [Monday’s] increases in the price and trading volume of the shares of the company. Having made such enquiry with respect to the company as is reasonable in the circumstances, the board confirms that it is not aware of any reasons for these price and volume movements or of any information which must be announced to avoid a false market in the company’s securities or of any inside information that needs to be disclosed under ... the laws of Hong Kong.”
Glencore’s shares have fallen by more than two-thirds this year as concerns grow about its large debt – slowing Chinese growth has hammered the prices of commodities that the company both trades and mines.
Glencore’s boss, Ivan Glasenberg, tried to calm nerves last week by stating that the company was “operationally and financially robust”. The company’s chairman, Tony Hayward, and John Mack, a non-executive director, bought Glencore shares last week in an attempt to display confidence in the company.
The shares trade at a fraction of their 530p float price four years ago and are lower than the the 125p at which Glencore raised £1.6bn strengthen its finances recently.
