Globe says Teck, Antofagasta deny Bloomberg report
Teck Resources Ltd (C:TCK)
Shares Issued 566,805,741
Last Close TCK.B 3/30/2015 $19.45
Tuesday March 31 2015 - In the News
The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition Teck Resources and Antofagasta PLC denied a report that they were in merger talks. The Globe's Rachelle Younglai and Brent Jang quote Teck as saying it "is not in discussions with Antofagasta in relation to any form of transaction." A report by Bloomberg said the two miners had held early-stage merger discussions. The news sent Teck shares soaring before the companies issued separate denials. A union between the two miners would have required the approval of the Keevil family, which controls Teck, and Chile's Luksic family, which controls Antofagasta, and would create one of the world's largest copper producers. A deal may have helped cut Teck's $8-billion debt load and reduced the Canadian company's exposure to metallurgical coal. Moody's Investors Service recently downgraded Teck to the lowest investment grade rating, citing the miner's debt and the continued weakness in commodity prices. Mining giants such as Anglo American and BHP Billiton have been trying to sell assets with limited success. The miner's Class B shares closed at $19.45 on Monday, up $1.98, though the stock gave up most of the earlier gains in after-hours trading.
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