The planned merger between mining firm Xstrata and commodity trader Glencore could be in doubt after Xstrata's second-largest shareholder said it wanted better terms.
Sovereign wealth fund Qatar Holdings, which owns 11% of Xstrata, said it was seeking 3.25 new Glencore shares for each existing Xstrata stock.
This compares with 2.8 new Glencore shares currently being offered.
Glencore and Xstrata have both declined to comment.
The planned merged firm will be worth a total of $90bn (£56bn).
According to press reports, a sufficient number of Xstrata shareholders are now opposed to the merger to prevent it going through.
Qatar Holdings, which is owned by the country's royal family, said it still backed the merger of the two companies, just at improved terms.
Glencore buys and sells metals, crops and fuels in the financial market and invests in mining companies, but - unlike Xstrata - Glencore does not typically extract the stuff out of the ground itself.
For its part, Xstrata owns vast reserves of coal, copper and nickel across Africa, South America and central Asia.
The merger plan was first announced in February.
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