Rio Tinto taps Evercore’s Robey, JPMorgan on Glencore pursuit

Rio Tinto Group has brought on a slate of bankers including Simon Robey, one of the UK’s top rainmakers, as it pursues a deal for Glencore Plc, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The mining company has lined up advisers including Evercore, which bought the dealmaker’s London boutique Robey Warshaw last year, as well as JPMorgan Chase & Co, the people said. Rio is also working with Macquarie Group and UBS Group AG, which is one of its corporate brokers, according to the people.

Citigroup — which is traditionally close to Glencore and has been involved in many of their recent transactions — has been speaking to them about getting a role on the deal, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

Citigroup, JPMorgan and UBS have all gone restricted or suspended their ratings on Rio and Glencore shares in recent days, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Since the announcement of the early-stage talks this month, top Wall Street banks including Bank of America Corp, Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley have been scrambling to land a spot on the high-profile deal, the people said. Goldman and JPMorgan advised Rio on its $6.7 billion takeover of Arcadium Lithium Plc completed last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

A number of top advisers may be conflicted out due to roles on other major deals in the industry like Anglo American Plc’s pending acquisition of Teck Resources Firms that traditionally work with BHP are also unlikely to get a key role.

As banks jockey for advisory and financing roles, the companies are likely to bring on more firms. Representatives for Rio, Glencore, Citigroup, Evercore, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Macquarie, Morgan Stanley and UBS declined to comment. A spokesperson for Bank of America didn’t have any immediate comment.

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