Goldman Leads M&A List Spurred by Resource Deals

Glencore International Plc’s $37 billion announced takeover of coal exporter Xstrata Plc in February -- the biggest mining deal ever -- signals that natural-resource tie-ups may dominate mergers and acquisitions again this year after doing so in 2011.

The purchase by Baar, Switzerland-based Glencore, the world’s largest publicly traded commodities supplier, will create a giant with $209 billion in sales and more muscle for making deals. Last year’s No. 1 tie-up, Kinder Morgan Inc.’s $37.6 billion agreement to acquire El Paso Corp., and four other top 10 mergers involved energy, metals and mining companies that combined to take leading positions in their industries, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its April issue.