Xstrata backs new Glencore voting plan

Mining group Xstrata gave its long-awaited blessing to a revised all-share bid from trader Glencore yesterday, bowing to investor pressure by changing the deal to ensure it isn’t sunk by a payment plan to retain top managers.

The board dropped its insistence that the overall deal be tied to a shareholders’ vote on the controversial package, which offers more than 70 top executives a total of £140 million to dissuade them from quitting.

Now, through a complex structure of votes, investors will be able to express views against the retention plan without endangering the merger, bringing the deal closer almost eight months after it was announced.

Some institutional shareholders who supported the tie-up had said they felt unable to back the move if it also meant giving the green light to the payments.