Glencore Targets Secondary Listing in Australia — 3rd Update

By Adam Whittaker and Rhiannon Hoyle

London-listed Glencore is set to apply for a secondary listing on the Australian stock market a year after ditching plans for a switch to New York.

Glencore said Wednesday that a listing on the Australian Securities Exchange, or ASX, would broaden its shareholder base, improve trading liquidity and give it increased flexibility when pursuing Australian deals. The miner and commodity trader said alongside its first-half results that it wants its shares to be available to investors there in October.

The move comes after Glencore held failed talks earlier this year with rival Rio Tinto about a potential tie-up that could have created the world's biggest mining company and copper producer. A six-month standstill on deal talks under U.K. takeover rules ended this week. Rio Tinto is dual-listed in London and Sydney.

The listing could make it easier for Glencore to pursue large mergers and acquisitions with Australian-listed companies, Jefferies analysts said in a note to clients.

Glencore Chief Executive Officer Gary Nagle said London remains the optimal place to have its main listing. However, the exchange has taken a beating in recent years. Several companies have chosen to re-list in the U.S., while recent M&A deals have removed some of its most established companies.

In 2022, BHP Group, the world's largest miner by market value, scrapped a dual listing in the U.K. and Australia for a primary listing on the ASX. Australia is home to a number of large mining companies and an investor base that's widely viewed as supportive of the sector.

Glencore's decision comes 12 months after the miner pulled plans to switch its main listing to New York from London. At the time, it said such a move wouldn't offer better value for shareholders but promised to keep its listings under review.

Glencore also has a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

The period was exceptionally profitable for Glencore, which was aided by a vast trading arm that capitalized on energy market volatility triggered by conflict in the Middle East and posted a near-record first-half result.

The company said it would buy back $500 million of shares and return around $1 billion to shareholders via a special cash distribution. Shares were up 3.3% in midday London trade.

Group adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization jumped 86% to $10.115 billion. The trading unit more than doubled its adjusted earnings before interest and taxes to $3.3 billion.

Glencore's energy traders are among the world's largest buyers and sellers of crude oil and related products. The closure of the key Strait of Hormuz chokepoint on the Persian Gulf left countries scrambling for replacement oil and gas supplies.

Write to Adam Whittaker at adam.whittaker@wsj.com and Rhiannon Hoyle at Rhiannon.Hoyle@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 05, 2026 06:32 ET (10:32 GMT)