"Glencore said to prepare sweetened Teck bid as deadlock drags on"

" Glencore said to prepare sweetened Teck bid as deadlock drags on \r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\nGlencore Plc is getting closer to increasing its offer for Teck Resources Ltd., in a move aimed at ending weeks of limbo in the battle over the Canadian miner\u2019s future.\r\n\r\nThe Switzerland-based commodities giant is working on a potential improvement to its bid that could be announced as soon as the coming weeks, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. By raising its offer and ratcheting up shareholder pressure, Glencore is seeking to force Teck to the negotiating table, the people said.\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\nThe bitter fight that transfixed the mining world moved behind the scenes since late April, when Teck\u2019s board was forced into an embarrassing reversal after failing to win enough investor support for a plan to split the company. Teck at the time reiterated its opposition to\u00a0 Glencore\u2019s $23 billion bid, \u00a0and Glencore repeated that it was willing to go higher, but there has been little public movement since then.\r\n\r\nThe situation remains fluid, and Glencore\u2019s plans could still change, the people said. Even if it can deliver a big enough increase to win over Teck\u2019s shareholders, management and investors, there is still a potentially larger hurdle to face: Norman Keevil, the Canadian mining patriarch whose family\u2019s \u201csupervoting\u201d shares give him a veto on any big decisions, has come out strongly against a Glencore takeover.\r\n\r\nStill, an increased bid would increase the pressure on Teck\u2019s board, which has been forced back to square one on its strategy to split out its coal business after April\u2019s failed vote. While Glencore has been reluctant to boost its offer without some sort of engagement, some Teck shareholders have told the Swiss miner and trader they want to see a higher bid before they will be willing to exert more pressure in its favor, some of the people said.\r\n\r\nThere have been no recent discussions between the two sides, the people said, as Teck refuses to negotiate about a deal it has consistently called a \u201cnon-starter.\u201d\r\n\r\nInstead, the two companies have been traveling the globe to pitch investors on their competing visions for Teck\u2019s future, the people said, with Teck chief executive officer Jonathan Price meeting with top shareholder China Investment Corp., while Glencore executives jetted to Ottawa to make their case to Canadian officials.\r\n\r\nSpokespeople for Glencore and Teck declined to comment. Calls to CIC\u2019s office weren\u2019t answered outside regular business hours.\r\n\r\nThe fight over Teck\u2019s future reflects a revived appetite for dealmaking across the mining world, as well as the difficult questions facing companies with large coal operations.\r\n\r\nAn increased bid by Glencore would be the latest escalation in the battle that went public in early April after Teck\u2019s board and controlling shareholder publicly rejected its earlier proposal. The Swiss commodities giant offered to buy Teck and then create two new companies combining their respective metals and coal businesses.\r\n\r\nFor Glencore, the deal would be company defining, allowing it to create one of the world\u2019s biggest miners of metals while jettisoning its increasingly unpopular \u2014 but highly profitable \u2014 coal business in the process.\r\n\r\nFor its part, Teck has spent years considering options for its own coal operations before announcing a complicated plan to spin off a coal company that would continue funneling profits back to the metals business for several years following the split. Teck has one of the best copper growth pipelines among all the big miners, but has been depending on profits from its coal business to fund it.\r\n\r\nThe Canadian miner says it still sees a split as the best option, but now faces a race against time to come up with a new and simpler plan that won\u2019t leave the metals business exposed. It has said it\u2019s \u201cworking around the clock,\u201d including engaging with counterparties interested in buying its coal assets.\r\n\r\nOne interested buyer is Canadian mining financier Pierre Lassonde, who\u00a0 has expressed interest \u00a0in acquiring the coal assets with a consortium of investors. Teck is also engaging other coal producers, as well as considering options including a stake sale or possible listing.\r\n\r\nAny takeover of Teck would face scrutiny from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau\u2019s government, which has considerable latitude to block foreign acquisitions and has recently clamped down on foreign investment in Canada\u2019s critical minerals industry. Trudeau and top government officials have been careful not to take a definitive stance on Glencore\u2019s proposal but have indicated tacit support for the Vancouver-based company.\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n "

"Glencore said to prepare sweetened Teck bid as deadlock drags on"

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