Glencore chief executive Gary Nagle struck out at European investors for placing ESG above financial returns as he defended a proposal by the Swiss commodity trader to list a spin-off of its coal business in New York.
As part of its advances to take over Teck Resources, the London-listed mining group has proposed combining its company with its Canadian rival’s steelmaking coal business and listing the joint entity in New York.
“American investors in my view seem to take a more pragmatic approach towards it where they want the yield,” said Nagle, speaking at the Melbourne Mining Dinner in London on Thursday.
“In Europe, investors seem a little bit more focused on ESG and it seems to be the ESG desk that makes more decisions and returns are sometimes put second or third in the list. That’s a concern for us.”