QATAR’S SOVEREIGN wealth fund has for the first time said it will vote against the $70 billion merger of Glencore and Xstrata, solidifying the stand-off between the investor and Ivan Glansenberg, chief executive of the commodities trader.

Qatar Holding, which in June said Glencore could not count on its support for the trader’s offer of 2.8 of its shares for each Xstrata share, yesterday definitively said it would not support the deal on those terms at Xstrata’s shareholder meeting next week.

“QH believes that Xstrata has a strong future, whether in combination with Glencore on acceptable terms or as a stand-alone entity, and that its shares represent an attractive long-term investment,” the sovereign wealth fund said.

The fund, which has spent about $6 billion building a 12 per cent stake in the miner, probably has enough votes to block the deal.

However, some institutional investors in the miner have voiced disquiet about the deal’s terms, while this week it emerged that Norges Bank Investment Management had been increasing its stake in Xstrata and also planned to oppose the deal. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012