Glencore says it is willing to improve $23bn bid for Teck Resources

Glencore said it would be prepared to improve its $23bn bid for Teck Resources if the Canadian miner was willing to hold talks, ratcheting up the pressure ahead of a key shareholder vote next week.

Addressing Teck shareholders directly for the first time, Glencore chief executive Gary Nagle said its current offer was not the “best and final” and urged the Canadian company’s board to come to the negotiating table.

Teck has repeatedly rejected Glencore’s advances, dismissing the proposal as a “non-starter”. Under mining magnate Norman Keevil, who holds a controlling voting stake, Teck instead wants to proceed with its own plan to split into a coal company and a metals business.

Shareholders in the Canadian group vote on April 26 on whether to back the split, a poll that is increasingly seen as a referendum on Glencore’s takeover bid.

The surprise bid for Teck, which Glencore launched earlier this month, is the latest evidence of the flurry of dealmaking across the mining industry, as companies try to rebuild their portfolios around the metals required for the energy transition, such as copper and nickel.

Glencore’s pursuit of Teck also marks the London-listed group’s first acknowledgment that it is prepared to separate its own coal business, which has made record profits over the last couple of years, from the rest of the company.

If Glencore acquires Teck, it intends to split the combined company in two, creating a huge coal company listed in New York, and a separate metals company headquartered in Canada.

In a letter to Teck shareholders released on Wednesday, Nagle said that the Teck board had “consistently refused any engagement”.

“We believe that with engagement, we could improve our proposal’s terms and value, which would be in the best interests of all Teck shareholders,” wrote Nagle.

An accompanying presentation set out Glencore’s case, warning Teck investors that there was a risk the Canadian miner’s share price could respond “negatively” if they backed the split.

Teck, meanwhile, has embarked on a charm offensive with its own shareholders in a bid to persuade them its proposed split is superior to Glencore’s offer.

In a call late on Tuesday, Teck chief executive Jonathan Price told investors that the proposed split would immediately benefit shareholders.

But proxy advisory firms Glass Lewis and ISS have both recommended that shareholders reject the Teck plan.

If Teck’s proposal is defeated, Glencore said its bid would still stand and that it would directly approach Teck’s shareholders.