Qatar wealth fund said to be interested in Glencore's agricultural business

The sovereign wealth fund of Qatar has reportedly joined investors expressing an interest in buying a minority stake in Glencore’s agricultural business, which deals in commodities such as wheat, cotton, soybeans and sugar.

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Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter as saying that talks are in the preliminary stage and a sale could take as long as six months.

Qatar Holding, which is the direct investment arm of the state’s sovereign wealth fund, is already the largest investor in the London-listed commodities trader with an 8.9% stake.

Bloomberg said the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore, Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board were among the other parties involved in talks.

The sale of the agriculture business is part of Glencore’s debt-reduction plan, announced by chief executive Ivan Glasenberg early last month. It includes selling $2.5bn of new stock, asset sales, spending cuts and suspending the dividend, with the aim of cutting debt to $20bn from $30bn.