Now Knight Vinke joins Glencore-Xstrata tie-up opponents

The proposed £57bn merger between the mining and commodity giants Glencore and Xstrata was dealt a further blow yesterday as another key shareholder, Knight Vinke, said it opposed the deal.

Knight Vinke added its voice to those of Xstrata shareholders such as Schroders, Standard Life, Fidelity and the Qatari sovereign wealth fund in condemning the price being paid by Glencore and a controversial plan to give key executives up to £170m worth of retention payments if the deal goes through.

Glencore is offering 2.8 of its shares for each Xstrata share but Knight Vinke wants that to be increased to 3.25. The shareholder, which owns a 0.5 per cent stake in Xstrata, also opposes the revised terms of the retention package, which switched the payment from cash to shares and linked it to performance.