Activist investor sets out plan for Glencore coal demerger

An activist investor pressing Glencore to exit the world's most polluting fossil fuel says the miner can spin off its coal division and reduce production by using a dual-share structure to maintain control.

Bluebell Capital Partners, a London-based hedge fund that has taken aim at Danone and is currently locked in a bitter battle with Belgian chemicals company Solvay, wrote to the miner and commodity trader last month setting out its demerger plan, which involves creating a separate coal company with A and B shares.

“The real debate should not be about ‘if’ Glencore should spin off coal, but ‘how’ a spin off should be executed, taking into account both financial and environmental considerations that support Glencore’s strategy to responsibly run down coal,” said the letter, which has been seen by the Financial Times.

Bluebell partners Giuseppe Bivona and Marco Taricco called on the London listed miner and commodity trader last year to separate its thermal coal business, arguing that it had become a barrier to investment.

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Glencore's new chief executive Gary Nagle pushed back against the idea, telling investors and analysts in December that it was in the best interests of the company and "the planet" to run down its mines over the next 30 years. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2022