AFP - Commodity giant Glencore insisted Monday that its takeover offer for Swiss-based miner Xstrata, which would create a commodities behemoth, is at a fair price despite some calls for an increase. "This is a merger of equals. We believe that the price given for Xstrata is a fair price. A merger of equals generally doesn't give a premium," Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg told AFP in an interview from Baar, Switzerland. Glencore and Xstrata are both based in Zug, a Swiss tax haven canton, and in early February formalized their highly anticipated deal to create a raw materials juggernaut with a market capitalization of $90 billion. For each of Xstrata's shares, Glencore is offering 2.8 of its shares. This represents a 15.2-percent premium over Xstrata’s closing share price on the day before the announcement of discussions with Glencore. On this basis, the takeover is valued at nearly $62 billion. Despite this premium, some analysts have estimated that Glencore should seek to mollify Xstrata shareholders holding out for something better. "It’s now up to the shareholders to accept or reject," said Glasenberg. The South African said the deal had unanimous support of the Xstrata board and the mining company’s chief executive Mick Davis. "It’s our job over the next few weeks to convince the Xstrata shareholders that Glencore has great assets," said Glasenberg, citing top-tier copper assets in the Democratic Republic of Congo, coal in Colombia, zinc and gold assets in Kazakhstan, and long-term coal in South Africa. To convince investors before the general meetings of both groups are held, representatives of both Glencore and Xstrata will embark on a roadshow, the Glencore chief executive said. "The European Commission has been advised of the merger," and has been provided with all the necessary details, Glasenberg added, before forecasting that regulators would approve of the deal. The new entity would be called Glencore Xstrata and would be a specialist in diverse materials, Glasenberg emphasized in a letter to shareholders. It would give birth to a behemoth generating a combined turnover of $209.4 billion and an EBITDA of $16.2 billion. Glencore published its results Monday, after revealing its key figures in early February. Net profit (before exceptional items) was up 7 percent to $4.1 billion last year, while sales rose 28 percent to $186.2 billion. The company benefited from high commodity prices and increased production, posting a "solid performance" in all sectors, the company said. Glencore is not content to be a trading giant as it also holds assets in mining and agricultural products. It should continue to benefit from strong demand, particularly from China, which consumes about 50 percent of global commodities, according to Glasenberg. "We believe that commodity prices should remain high" if the debt crisis does not worsen in Europe, he said.