Activists target Glencore

AN ACTiVisT hedge fund has demanded Glencore hive off its coal business to make it more attractive to eco-minded investors.

London-based Bluebell Capital Partners said Glencore’s plan to keep thermal coal in its portfolio until 2050 was ‘morally unacceptable and financially flawed’.

in a letter to Glencore’s recently appointed chairman Kalidas Madhavpeddi and chief executive Gary Nagle, Bluebell said it was not ‘an investible company’ for shareholders keen on sustainability.

it is the first crisis Madhavpeddi and Nagle have had to navigate as leaders - but Glencore’s strategy to run down its coal business over three decades has been backed by its biggest shareholders.

Nagle has said he would consider getting rid of the coal division, however, if major investors turned against it. He will lay out his strategy at an investor day tomorrow.

Bluebell has taken on major companies including Danone and Glaxosmithkline. it steered the campaign that led to the ousting of Danone chief Emmanuel Faber in March and took a small position in GsK to back investor Elliott Management’s call to make boss Emma Walmsley reapply for her job once the firm is separated next year.

run by Marco Taricco and Giuseppe Bivona, it has not said how big its stake in £47bn Glencore is. it manages about £150m of assets. Glencore said it regularly engaged with investors and was confident its business model ‘is uniquely placed to produce, recycle and market materials needed to decarbonise energy whilst reducing emissions and delivering value for stakeholders’.