Glencore moves to top Chinese rival in $3.5 billion coal play

Glencore's American depository receipts fell 1.2% in New York

Glencore’s Ivan Glasenberg is looking to trump China’s Yanzhou Coal Mining with a rival bid for Rio Tinto Group coal assets in Australia.

The company’s chief executive officer submitted a proposal to buy Rio’s Coal & Allied coal unit in New South Wales for $2.55 billion, the Baar, Switzerland-based producer and trader said Friday in a statement. If successful, the company would also seek to buy Mitsubishi’s stakes in two coal ventures for $920 million in the same area.

The moves threaten to squeeze out a rival bid by China’s Yanzhou’s Yancoal Australia unit, which in January offered $2.45 billion for Rio’s