Rio Tinto open to owning coal to secure Glencore deal: reports

Rio Tinto (ASX, LON: RIO) is said to be open to temporarily owning Glencore’s (LON: GLEN) coal business to clear a key hurdle in merger talks that could create the world’s largest mining company, with a market value of nearly $207 billion.

The shift, according to media reports including Bloomberg‘s, would mark a sharp reversal for Rio, which exited coal in 2018 under investor pressure. Retaining the assets could be key to removing one of the biggest obstacles to a deal with Glencore...