* Xstrata board engaged headhunter for search - Sky
* Xstrata chairman also chairs biggest shareholder Glencore
(Adds Xstrata declines comment, background)
LONDON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Miner Xstrata is considering replacing Chairman Willy Strothotte, who also chairs its biggest shareholder, commodity trader Glencore International , Sky News reported on Tuesday.
Many Xstrata investors have previously made known their preference for a chairman that was not linked to Swiss-based Glencore, which owns about 35 percent of Xstrata.
Sky News, quoting people close to the company, said the Xstrata board had engaged headhunter Egon Zehnder several weeks ago to search for new board members, including a chairman.
Xstrata declined to comment on the article, which said the process to replace 65-year-old Strothotte had been given added impetus by the fact that Glencore was mulling a stock market listing next year.
Sources close to the situation said last month that privately held Glencore was considering listing in the first half of next year in an IPO that could raise around 10 billion pounds ($16 billion).
Secretive Glencore, the world's biggest commodity trader, has been preparing to go public after issuing a $2.2 billion convertible bond last year.
Earlier this year, speculation surfaced about a possible merger of Glencore and Xstrata, but major Xstrata investors said they were wary of linking up ahead of an IPO due to the difficulty of valuing the private group.
Last week, Xstrata Chief Executive Mick Davis said his group had never been approached by Glencore with a merger proposal and gave assurances that the board would look after its biggest shareholder base. (Reporting by Eric Onstad and Paul Hoskins; editing by Sarah Young and Will Waterman) ($1=.6301 Pound)