Abu Dhabi, Singapore commit to Glencore IPO
STEVE CHIOTAKIS: The world’s largest commodities trader, Glencore, today said it’s likely to raise more than $50 billion when it goes public in London later this month. Big traders have already signed up like the governments of Abu Dhabi and Singapore.
Reporter Christopher Werth looks at why they have an interest in Glencore.
CHRISTOPHER WERTH: Abu Dhabi has a lot of cash lying around. It’s an oil rich nation — and oil prices, you may have heard, are pretty darn high right now. So, Abu Dhabi wants to take its extra money and invest it in a place where it can earn a decent return. That means it has set up a so-called ‘sovereign wealth fund’ — something a lot of countries do.
Rupert Nathan of the stock research firm Fat Prophets says that Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund is making a good bet by buying into Glencore. Glencore’s ‘core’ business is trading in metals and agricultural products.
RUPERT NATHAN: Part of the basics of any investment strategy would be to achieve diversification so if the bulk of my revenue was coming from oil, I’d be wanting to diversify away.
And he says given that Glencore’s stock is expected to start selling at a relatively low price, which is why sovereign wealth investors like Abu Dhabi view it as a steal.
In London, I’m Christopher Werth for Marketplace.
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