Lord Browne to chair trading firm

The former chief executive of BP, Lord Browne, is to become chairman of commodities trading firm Glencore, the BBC understands.

Lord Browne resigned from BP in 2008 after it was revealed he had lied to a court about his private life.

He recently led an inquiry for the government on university tuition fees.

Earlier, Glencore announced its intention to raise $9bn-$11bn (£5.5bn-£6.7bn) on the London and Hong Kong stock exchanges.

The Swiss firm hopes to complete the offering next month.

The group said the listings would give it the flexibility to achieve “sustainable growth”.

Glencore employs about 57,500 people across more than 40 countries.

It trades metals and minerals as well as energy and agricultural products.

‘Growth opportunities’

The flotation comes as a number of commodity prices have hit or approached record highs.

The sale could value the company at up to $73bn.

Glencore is currently owned by its partners, who stand to earn millions from the sale.

However, they will be prevented from cashing in their shares for an undisclosed period of time.

Glencore said it expected to be the first company in 25 years to enter London’s FTSE 100 on the first day of trading.

Current chairman Ivan Glasenberg said: “An IPO is the next logical step in our development and strategy.

“It will provide us with the financial flexibility to capitalise upon long-term growth opportunities throughout our business and achieve further sustainable growth.”