Teck still engaged with several suitors for coal sale, CEO says

Teck CEO Jonathan Price. (Credit: BHP)

Teck Resources Ltd. said it is still evaluating offers for its steelmaking coal operations as the Canadian miner works to exit the business while fending off a takeover approach by Glencore Plc.

“We’re not sitting on our hands,” chief executive officer Jonathan Price said Thursday during Teck’s earnings call. “We are working on this very actively right now and we’re engaged with multiple counterparties.”

More than five months have passed since the Vancouver-based miner first announced plans to separate its coal business and become a standalone base metals producer. The company has since been under pressure to design a plan that can trump a proposal that shareholders rejected in April, as well as Glencore’s $23 billion takeover proposal for the entire company.

Teck is considering a “number of structures” proposed by multiple interested buyers, Price said.

Bloomberg previously reported that Glencore is among the interested parties, along with Canadian mining financier Pierre Lassonde. India’s JSW Steel Ltd. is also said to be considering a bid for as much as a 20% stake in the operation.

“There’s a lot of interest for the whole of the business or components of the business,” Price said.

(By Jacob Lorinc)

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