Glencore Plc dropped the most among the U.K.’s biggest stocks as the company clashed with a former partner over royalties at key copper and cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The shares fell as much as 3.9 percent after the company said late Friday that a Congolese court authorized bailiffs to freeze certain Glencore assets after Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler served orders on local units for almost $3 billion in damages.
The damages relate to royalties from the Mutanda Mining and Kamoto Copper projects, which Glencore stopped paying to Gertler since he was sanctioned by the U.S. for alleged corruption in December.
While the company bought Gertler’s stakes in the mines last year in a near billion-dollar deal, it’s still obliged to pay him royalties, which he previously acquired from state-owned Gecamines.
Making those payments has become complicated for Glencore since the sanctions, which prevent Gertler from dealing in dollars and make it hard for Glencore to trade with him in any currency.
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