Africa-Press – South-Africa. Swiss commodities giant Glencore said Thursday that its takeover offer for Teck Resources “still stands” after the Canadian miner opted to rethink its spin-off plans.The two companies have for weeks been locked in a clash over the future of Canada’s largest diversified mining company.
A day after Teck decided to withdraw its plan to separate its steelmaking coal business, Glencore said in a statement that it took note of the decision.
But the Swiss company, which is active in both commodity trading and mining, said it “confirms that its proposal still stands”.
The Vancouver-based company has twice rejected hostile takeover bids by Glencore in recent weeks, urging shareholders to instead support its restructuring plans.
Chief executive Jonathan Price said Wednesday that Glencore’s proposals “remain a non-starter” and vowed that Teck would continue pursuing an in-house solution.
Glencore responded Thursday that it hoped the Teck board would “engage constructively in order to fully explore our proposal which has not been done to date”.
It remains willing to make an offer directly to Teck shareholders “if there continues to be no engagement from the Teck board”, it added.
Just hours before a shareholder vote Wednesday, Teck said it was not proceeding with a plan, announced in February, to split its metals and coal operations into two companies.
It will now “pursue a simpler and more direct separation”, Price said.
Teck Resources, one of the top mining companies in Canada, wants to focus on metals such as copper that are key to the global energy transition.
It has warned that Glencore’s proposal would entail bringing the Swiss giant’s thermal coal into its business.
Glencore earlier this month added an $8.2-billion cash component to its original $22.5-billion all-share offer, but it failed to sway Teck’s board.
After its second knock-back, Glencore published an open letter to Teck shareholders saying it was willing to sweeten its takeover offer.
Teck Resources controlling shareholder Norman Keevil has remained steadfastly opposed to a merger and Ottawa — which would need to approve any foreign takeover — has signalled its preference for the company to remain in Canadian hands.
In a separate announcement, Glencore also said Thursday it was buying stakes in two mines owned by Norwegian group Norsk Hydro.
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