Biggest Mining Deals No Promise of Xstrata Bonanza: Commodities

Shareholders in Xstrata Plc shouldn’t expect that a takeover by Glencore International Plc will deliver a windfall if the history of the deals that created two of its biggest rivals is any guide.

Rio Tinto Group’s London shares gained 0.5 percent in dollar terms in the five years after the company was formed in 1995, a time when aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. more than doubled, data compiled by Bloomberg show. BHP Billiton Ltd. climbed 270 percent in dollar terms in Melbourne in the five years after the largest mining company was created in 2001, trailing the quadrupling of Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and the sevenfold surge at Vancouver-based Teck Resources Ltd.