Teck controlling shareholder calls Glencore bid the wrong one at the wrong time

VANCOUVER — The controlling shareholder of Teck Resources Ltd. rejected Glencore’s offer to buy the Canadian miner, but says he is open to talking about other possible deals once the company completes its own plan to split its business.

Teck chairman emeritus Norman Keevil says Glencore’s proposal is the wrong one, at the wrong time. 

Teck’s board has rejected Glencore’s unsolicited takeover offer that would see shareholders receive a stake in a combined metals company as well as a choice of cash or shares in a company that would hold their merged coal assets.

Instead, the company is pursuing a plan it announced in February to split up its metal and steelmaking coal businesses into two companies, Teck Metals and Elk Valley Resources. The proposal will be voted on by shareholders later this month. 

Keevil says he would support a transaction – whether it be an operating partnership, merger, acquisition, or sale – with the right partner, on the right terms for Teck Metals after the separation takes place. 

Teck is controlled by the Keevil family, which owns the company’s class A shares together with Japanese company Sumitomo. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2023.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TECK.B)

The Canadian Press