Johannesburg - The Competition Tribunal on Tuesday gave the
green light to the proposed takeover of global miner Xstrata by commodities
trader Glencore.
However, the tribunal attached some conditions to the $33bn
deal to limit the merger's impact on job losses in the crucial mining sector.
One of the conditions stipulates that job losses among
skilled workers be limited to a maximum of 80 workers, the tribunal said in a
statement.
Job losses among unskilled or semi-skilled workers shall be
limited to 100 and may only take place more than two years after the merger has
been fully approved by all affected jurisdictions.
The job loss conditions do not include voluntary leave or
early retirement packages and would also not apply to workers who refuse to be
redeployed.
The approval of the merger in South Africa went through
smoothly after power utility Eskom withdrew its objections last week following
an agreement with Glencore that would limit the impact of the merger on its
coal supplies.
The utility relies on coal-fired plants to generate 85% of
the electricity that powers South Africa and was keen to ensure the merger did
not hamper its ability to obtain timely, sufficient and competitively priced
coal.
Glencore is still waiting for the go-ahead for the deal from
antitrust authorities in China, having already received a conditional approval
from European regulators.
Last Friday Glencore pushed back the date for completion of
the long-awaited tie-up to March 15, citing lengthy regulatory processes in
South Africa and China.
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