Glencore eyes Australia listing to tap $3.1 trillion pension investment pool

Glencore Plc plans to launch a secondary listing in Australia as soon as October, giving the mining giant access to a broader pool of investors in the country’s A$4.4 trillion ($3.1 trillion) pension system.

South African executive Gary Nagle, Glencore’s chief executive officer, confirmed the plan during the company’s earnings call, saying Glencore aims to qualify for inclusion in Australia’s benchmark ASX 200 Index within 12 months.

“We believe that is fully achievable, and our ambition goes well beyond the ASX 200,” Nagle told investors. “We believe soon thereafter, we can, in fact, get ASX 100 inclusion, which requires approximately A$5.5 billion on the Australian line.”

Nagle said the Australian listing would give Glencore access to new sources of investment, particularly from the country’s large pension funds. Some of those funds are currently unable to increase their holdings in Glencore because the company does not have a local listing.  

“They have said to us that if there was an ASX line, that they’d be able to invest a lot more in Glencore,” Nagle said during the call.

Glencore targets Australian investor demand

The move comes six months after talks between Rio Tinto Group and Glencore collapsed, putting an end, for now, to discussions over a combination that would have created the world’s biggest mining company.

Glencore has also been looking for ways to broaden its investor base and improve the value placed on its shares after considering a US listing last year before abandoning the plan. For Australian investors, the proposed listing could make it easier to buy Glencore shares through the local market.

“The listing of Glencore in Australia is positive for Glencore, the ASX and Australian investors,” Luke Smith, co-head of Australian equities at AustralianSuper, the country’s biggest pension fund, said in an emailed statement. The listing could help the company’s share price “move closer to intrinsic value,” he said.

Glencore’s shares in London have risen 38 percent this year, lifting the company’s market value to about £66.7 billion ($90 billion). The Baar, Switzerland-based company is one of the world’s largest commodity traders and mining companies.

Seven-year Hillgrove offtake deal begins

The Australian listing also comes as Glencore deepens its business ties in the country. In June, the company agreed to act as an offtake buyer and commercial intermediary for gold concentrate from Larvotto Resources’ Hillgrove Antimony-Gold Project in New South Wales.

The binding seven-year agreement covers production from the mine’s planned August 2026 start-up and includes about 15,000 dry tonnes of gold concentrate a year. Under the agreement, Glencore will serve as the preferred marketing and logistics partner for the project, giving it a role in the sale and movement of concentrate once production begins.

For Glencore, the Australian listing would add a local market presence to an existing business relationship with the country’s mining sector while giving Australian investors a new way to gain exposure to one of the world’s largest commodity producers and traders.