* Record commodity merger set for lengthy antitrust process
* China has track record of imposing conditions even when
others approve
* China antitrust laws came into force in 2008, only one
deal blocked
* Conditions tend to focus on behaviour conditions, not
disposals
* EU also set to consider merger, Glencore and Xstrata say
By Clara Ferreira-Marques and Rachel Armstrong
LONDON/SINGAPORE, Feb 24 (Reuters) – While Glencore
and Xstrata work hard to get their merger plan
past Europe’s antitrust body, it is China, the biggest buyer of
the materials they mine and trade, whose watchdog might bite
hardest.
China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) is the newest and
least predictable of the world’s heavyweight regulatory bodies.
It also has a broader remit than most, and so could be the
one to watch, even though it was Europe that kicked off the
global hurdle race this week by flagging its desire to
scrutinise a deal that will create the fourth largest miner and
a leading producer of zinc, copper and coal..
Continued…
