Glencore courts 120 Teck investors for bid backing as spinoff vote looms -source

LONDON (Reuters) – Glencore executives have met around 120 Teck Resources shareholders during a short visit to Toronto in an effort to gain support for the companys bid rather than an internal overhaul, a source familiar with the situation said.

The $22.5 billion all-share offer from Glencore came as Tecks own plan to spin off its metallurgical coal business and focus on copper and zinc nears a crucial April 26 vote.

Glencore Chief Executive Gary Nagle flew to Canada to meet shareholders last Thursday, after earlier in the week revising the unsolicited bid to include up to $8.2 billion in cash, which Tecks board rejected as “largely unchanged”.

The Swiss mining giant would instead combine and spin off its thermal coal unit and Tecks steelmaking coal business.

Glencore declined to comment and Teck was not immediately available to comment.

A wave of buyout offers for mines and mining companies is widely expected in coming months as demand increases for copper and other green energy transition minerals.

Shareholders have told Reuters that Glencore‘s offer is too low for them to reject Teck’s restructuring plan or ask for a delay to the vote, while analysts expected the Swiss company to dig deeper into its pocket.

“If they were to increase the bid, then there is going to be a lot of pressure on Teck to delay their vote and to engage,” said Ben Cleary, portfolio manager at Tribeca Global Natural Resources Fund.

Glencore‘s initial bid represented a 20% premium to Teck’s closing stock price on March 26, when it was made privately.

JP Morgan analysts said in a note on Monday that Glencore could pay as much as $27.2 billion.

Teck has said it would explore a corporate transaction or partnership post separation, while sources said on Monday that the company has had approaches from more than six mining companies interested in its prized metals business.

(Reporting by Clara Denina; Additional reporting by Mrinalika Roy; Editing by Alexander Smith)