Mercuria: A Commodity Trading Powerhouse's Quiet Rise

In less than a decade, Marco Dunand and Daniel Jaeggi have built Mercuria from a 10-person company supplying oil to a pair of Polish refineries into the world’s fourth-largest commodity trader, with revenue topping $100 billion last year. They’re not stopping there. Dunand and Jaeggi are on the verge of striking a deal to buy JPMorgan Chase’s $3.3 billion commodities unit, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. “This gives them a strong opportunity for growth and puts them close to the top players in the league,” says Roland Rechtsteiner, a partner at management consultant Oliver Wyman. “Scale is going to be more important than ever.”

The JPMorgan business includes energy trading and storage facilities in North America, where a boom in shale oil and natural gas has transformed the flow of commodities worldwide. The unit has generated $750 million in annual operating profit before compensation costs, according to people who have seen documents related to the sale. Benoit Lioud, a Mercuria spokesman, declined to comment on talks with JPMorgan.