LONDON - The commodities trader Glencore International on Tuesday received the final regulatory approval for its proposed $30 billion takeover of the mining company Xstrata.
To ease Chinese antitrust concerns, Glencore said it would sell a Peruvian copper mine currently owned by Xstrata.
The combined mining and commodities trading company would be one of the world’s largest producers of copper, and the Chinese authorities had been worried that its local companies could be forced to pay higher prices for a variety of metals.
The China’s Ministry of Commerce, which has dragged on for more than a year after Xstrata’s shareholders initially balked at the price of the proposed all-share offer from Glencore, is the final regulator to back the deal.
European antitrust authorities approved the takeover in November after Glencore agreed to sell assets and reduce its operations on the Continent. South Africa regulators also signed off on the deal earlier this year.
Shares in Glencore rose 3.5 percent in afternoon trading in London, while Xstrata’s stock price also rose 4.5 percent.
Glencore also said that Mick Davis, the current chief executive of Xstrata who was expected to head the merged company for six months, will now step down as soon as the takeover is finished.
Mr. Davis had been at the center of tense negotiations last year as Qatar Holding, the Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund and a major Xstrata shareholder, had fought to force Glencore to improve its original bid.
Eventually, the Swiss commodities trader relented, and increased its offer to 3.05 of its shares for every Xstrata share compared to its initial 2.8-per-share proposal.
In return, however, Glencore had demanded that its chief executive, Ivan Glasenberg, take over from Mr. Davis of Xstrata earlier than previously had been announced.
The original takeover had called for the Xstrata executives Mr. Davis; John Bond, chairman; and Trevor Reid, chief financial officer, to hold the same positions at the new company.
Glencore’s latest agreement with China’s antitrust authorities includes the sale of Xstrata’s Las Bambas copper mine in Peru. The commodities giant said it would inform the regulators about the sale no later than the end of July, with a potential sale to be completed by next summer.
Glencore also has agreed to supply Chinese companies with a minimum amount of copper, zinc and lead concentrate until the end of the decade to ease concerns that the Asian country may not be able to access sufficient levels of the metals needed for its local economy.
The deal is expected to be completed in early May.
