Teck Chief Executive Jonathan Price had told
shareholders on Monday that a restructuring announced in
February, in which Teck would spin off its steel-making coal
unit to focus on copper and other industrial metals, was the
only viable option for the company.
"The revised proposal does not provide an increase in the
overall value to be received by Teck shareholders or appear to
address material risks previously raised," Teck said in a
Tuesday statement.
Teck has repeatedly said the Glencore combination would expose its shareholders to the risk of a large thermal coal business and also the seemingly incongruous combination of an oil marketing division with a base metals business.
Canada's Keevil family, which has opposed Glencore's bid, controls Teck through its dominant ownership of 'A' class of shares, which have more voting power than the numerous 'B' class shares held by institutions.
"This revised proposal from Glencore helps, but we continue to expect a bump as we believe the premium offered so far is not high enough to get strong support from Teck's Class B shareholders," said Jefferies analyst Chris LaFemina.
"Getting Teck's Class A shareholders on board is a separate, more substantial challenge," LaFemina added. Reuters on Monday reported that Glencore Chief Executive Gary Nagle plans to meet with some of Teck's Canadian shareholders in Toronto on Thursday to personally lobby them for support. A vote on Teck's own restructuring plan is scheduled for April 26. If it passes, the separation will then take 7-8 weeks to complete. Nagle has pushed Teck to stall the vote. "We see no valid reason not to delay your shareholders meeting in respect of the proposed Teck separation in order to allow for discussions and due consideration of our proposed transaction," Nagle said in a letter to Teck's board. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ BREAKINGVIEWS-Glencore Teck tweak is necessary, not sufficient ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Clara Denina and Muhammed Husain; Editing by Shailesh Kuber, Mark Porter, Alexander Smith and Anna Driver)
