Xstrata shareholders set for merger vote Xstrata shareholders are set to gather on Tuesday at meetings in London and Zug in Switzerland to seal a planned $66bn merger with commodity trader Glencore , some 10 months after the board of the miner first recommended a merger. The deal is expected by those close to the process to be approved, with investors voting down a controversial £140m retention package that had been recommended by the board of Xstrata. The fate of the deal appeared to be determined last week after Qatar Holding, the sovereign wealth fund and the miner's largest independent shareholder, said it would back the deal but would not vote in favour of the pay package. Some shareholders over the weekend raised questions about the position of Sir John Bond, Xstrata chairman, in the event of a rejection of the incentives. One top 20 investor in Xstrata said: "Sir John's position is looking shaky as it is. If shareholder's vote against the company's recommendation to back the deal with incentives, then his position is untenable. Other shareholders were more supportive of the chairman. Another top 20 shareholder said: "Even if the vote goes against the board, I would not want to see Sir John go. That would be highly destabilising and not good for the new company. We would like to see the deal closed before we considered the position of the board. This may take quite a while. In a statement last week, the Qatari sovereign wealth fund said retaining Xstrata's operational management was of critical importance to the integration of the two companies. "However, Qatar Holding is conscious of the sensitivities concerning governance issues in the UK and does not feel it appropriate to influence the outcome either way," it said. Qatar said it would abstain from the vote, which requires a 50 per cent majority. Without the fund's support, the pay vote is unlikely to be approved. The statement was expected by those following the deal to prompt more investors to throw their support behind a resolution that sees the deal pass only if the retention arrangement vote fails and encouraging more votes against the pay package to ensure the second resolution passes. Xstrata's board had recommended shareholders vote only in favor of a resolution to approve the merger only if the retention arrangements were approved and, in a seperate vote, approve the incentives package. Glencore is racing to overcome European Commission concerns over potential competition problems and has offered to sell Xstrata's German zinc smelter. The sweetened proposal comes after Brussels rejected its first offer to sell zinc assets as insufficient.