Commodities trader Glencore pushed back its $26 billion bid for miner Xstrata yesterday after shareholder Qatar stunned the pair with a late demand for better terms.

The Qatari intervention pushed the deal to the brink as it prompted a string of major shareholders to revisit their own concerns, such as soaring executive pay and fears that the combined entity would take on riskier business.

The Qatar Investment Authority had kept silent for months as it built the second largest stake in Xstrata, then called for 3.25 new Glencore shares for every Xstrata share, up from the 2.8 on offer.

Glencore would have had to make any changes to the deal’s terms by this evening if its shareholders were to approve the takeover in mid-July and allow it to seal the merger in the third quarter, as originally planned.

Glencore said it would adjourn its shareholders’ meeting, which had been due on July 11th.

Xstrata said it would convene a new meeting when the offer papers had been updated and it now expected the deal to complete in October. – (Reuters)