Glencore halts Hong Kong trading ahead of announcement HONG KONG (Reuters) - Commodities trader Glencore International (0805.HK) (GLEN.L) halted trading in its Hong Kong shares on Tuesday ahead of the release of a price sensitive information, the company said in a stock exchange filing. The move follows last week's ruling by Britain's takeover regulator, which gave mining group Xstrata Plc (XTA.L) a one week extension to decide whether to accept a $36 billion revised offer from Glencore. The extension - granted at the request of both firms - surprised the market, which had been expecting Xstrata to announce its decision on Monday at the latest. Glencore, already Xstrata's biggest shareholder, raised its offer to 3.05 shares for every Xstrata share held from a previous offer of 2.8 shares, in a last-ditch attempt to rescue the deal after Xstrata's second-biggest investor, Qatar Holding, demanded improved terms in June. While improving the offer, Glencore also tweaked the terms of the deal, allowing Glencore's chief executive Ivan Glasenberg to take over the helm of the combined business from Xstrata chief Mick Davis within six months. An external spokeswoman for Glencore in Hong Kong declined to say anything beyond the statement issued to the stock exchange. Xstrata now has until October 1 to say whether or not it will recommend Glencore's offer to shareholders, having originally backed a lower offer in February. Reporting by Twinnie Siu and Denny Thomas; Editing by Eric Meijer and Alex Richardson