Glencore, the crisis-hit miner and commodities trader, has held secret peace talks with the City's most influential investor trade body amid fury over the company's recent $2.5bn (£1.6bn) cash call.
Sky News has learnt that a meeting took place on Tuesday morning between the Investment Association - whose members manage £5.5trillion of client assets - and John Burton, Glencore's company secretary.
The talks were also attended by a senior banker from Citi, one of Glencore's financial advisers.
A source familiar with the summit said it had been convened in response to concerns raised by institutional investors about the resources group's decision to raise equity through a placing, thereby bypassing a pledge to give existing shareholders the right of refusal to participate.
The move, part of a $10bn (£6.6bn) debt reduction plan announced by Ivan Glasenberg, Glencore's chief executive, was designed to reassure investors about the state of the company's balance sheet during a period of depressed commodity prices.
However, the placing sparked fury in the City, prompting investors to issue a strongly worded statement.
"The Investment Association and the National Association of Pension Funds note that 22% of the issue was allocated to employee shareholders of Glencore, while their members, who represent the savings of millions of individuals, enjoyed no such choice.
"Whilst shareholders generally recognise that the company needed to strengthen its balance sheet, the use of the authority in this manner is a serious and unnecessary breach of the principles [of pre-emption].
"Most importantly, there is no evidence of any suitable consultation with existing shareholders," it said.
"This sets a very damaging precedent for market practices."
Glencore and the Investment Association both declined to comment on Tuesday's meeting, and it was unclear whether a firm commitment had been given by Mr Burton that the company would not raise capital in this way again.
The fact that Glencore - whose chief executive is notoriously truculent - decided to attend the meeting indicates, however, that it acknowledges the strength of shareholders' feelings at a time when it could be forced to seek a further capital cushion.
Mr Glasenberg is understood to have pulled out of attending a dinner organised by the Singaporean bank DBS on Monday following a precipitous fall in Glencore shares which saw its value fall by almost one-third during the day's trading in London.
Investors were spooked by a research note published by the investment bank Investec which concluded that Glencore's equity could be worthless if low commodity prices persist.
Glencore shares rebounded on Tuesday, trading up by about 5% during the morning as analysts suggested that the company could be taken private.
The company is examining the sale of a number of assets, including its agricultural commodities unit, although observers questioned whether a mooted $12bn (£7.9bn) valuation for the division was realistic.
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