Glencore Plc chief executive officer Gary Nagle said he’s ready to meet Teck Resources Ltd.’s top executive “anywhere in the world” to discuss his company’s $23 billion takeover offer.
Nagle said he hasn’t met with Teck CEO Jonathan Price in person since the Swiss commodities giant made its offer for the Canadian miner weeks ago. Nagle said Glencore’s offer to buy the company still stands if Teck shareholders reject plans to separate its metals and coal businesses.
“We are ready to engage anywhere in the world, any day of the week,” Nagle said Friday in an interview in Toronto. “If Jonathan says he’ll meet with me, I’ll go anywhere in the world.”
Glencore and Teck are clashing on competing visions of the future of the Canadian miner, with CEOs of both firms in Toronto this week to win over shareholders. Nagle is pitching investors on a deal that would create the world’s third-largest copper company, while Teck executives are seeking support for plans to separate the company’s coal and metals businesses.
“If they vote it down our proposal stands, is valid and we are ready and able to engage with Teck’s management and board to discuss our proposal,” Nagle said.
The battle comes as acquisition activity heats up in the mining industry, fueled by demand for more of the metals that underpin the global energy transition. Teck’s assets are appealing to several top mining companies including BHP Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group, which are said to admire the company’s copper mines in the Americas.
(By Jacob Lorinc, with assistance from Danielle Bochove)
Read More: Teck’s top shareholder backs Glencore takeover
Comments
Bob Hall
The offer is chicken scratch. After the company decides on it’s future you can talk. It seems to me that right now the Chinese investors are looking for a way to obtain a stronger holding. Be careful.