By Devon Maylie
JOHANNESBURG--South Africa's state-owned electricity provider
Eskom Holdings Ltd. said Thursday it will seek conditions placed on
the merger between commodities titan Glencore International PLC
(GLEN.LN) and Anglo-Swiss miner Xstrata PLC (XTA.LN) over the
security of coal supplies.
South Africa's competition authorities will hear the case of the
proposed merger between Xstrata and Glencore next week.
Eskom, which produces about 90% of the country's electricity
through coal-fired power stations, said it plans to request
"conditions relating to security of coal supply."
The utility said it doesn't want to block the merger but is
concerned it will have repercussions for coal supply if it goes
ahead. The utility has already complained to the state that coal
producers are exporting too much coal and charging too high a
price.
Both Xstrata and Glencore have coal assets in South Africa. One
person familiar with the matter said the competition process in
South Africa could lead to the combined entity being forced to sell
off some of their coal assets.
Write to Devon Maylie at devon.maylie@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires