Just when you thought you'd heard the end of the saga surrounding a possible bid from Glencore for troubled Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, comes another wrinkle.
To recap, weekend reports suggested Glencore was looking at a £12bn takeover of ENRC, which had run into controversy after ousting four directors from its board. Yesterday, following its trading update, Glencore chief executive Ivan Glasenberg told reporters it was "not actively considering a bid for ENRC."
But now there's more. The takeover panel seems to have pushed Glencore to put this in writing, and so it has, confirming in a statement this morning its is not in active consideration of an offer for ENRC.
Under panel rules this means Glencore cannot bid for six months, without panel agreement, ENRC's recommendation or a third party bid or major change in circumstances.
Glencore's shares have dropped to a new low of 488.95p, off 11.05p and well short of its 530p flotation price. ENRC is 9p lower at 752.5p. Meanwhile Alexander Mashkevich, one of the co-founders of ENRC, has hit back in the recent row over the board changes, saying the company was not "more Soviet than City" as had been accused.
