(Reuters) – Activist investor Bluebell Capital Partners has proposed a new structure for Glencore that would allow the miner to separate its thermal coal business and still maintain control of the spin-off, a letter showed on Monday.
In November, Bluebell asked Glencore to separate the unit to allow more investors to buy the stock, but Glencore Chief Executive Officer Gary Nagle had then said none of its major shareholders were asking for a spin-off.
In the letter dated Jan. 24, London-based Bluebell set out a plan for Glencore to separate its coal company with A and B shares.
Thermal coal is the most polluting fossil fuel and other major mining companies, including Rio Tinto, and Anglo American, have sold or spun off their coal assets as they ramp up focus on greener initiatives.
Thermal coal prices, however, are close to all-time highs hit last year on expectations of a continued shortage of energy supply.
Glencore is set to report annual results on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Sinchita Mitra in Bengaluru and Clara Denina in London; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
