Green promise may not play out as imagined
Somewhere within the machinations of Canada’s largest mining corporation the goal of increasing shareholder gains must still exist in some form, although the latest developments around Teck Resources does make one wonder.
The news Tuesday that the mining giant has agreed to sell its steelmaking coal operations to Swiss mining giant Glencore and companies in Japan and Korea for an “implied value” of $9 billion popped Teck shares to $52, a gain of eight per cent on the day. But the pop didn’t last long.
Teck shares were back down to $48 a day later, leaving shareholders looking back to last spring after Glencore’s $23-billion offer to buy the whole company drove Teck’s market value to $65 a share.
That was before it ran up against a firestorm of political, shareholder and “Canada is not for sale” nationalist opposition. The takeover plan died. By my rough calculation, at current market values, killing the full Glencore takeover has cost Teck shareholders $4 billion
For the rest of this column: https://financialpost.com/opinion/teck-coal-sell-off-green-politics-manoeuvre?_gl=1*vdusog*_ga*MTUzMDE5Njc3OS4xNTM4NDk5NTkz*_ga_72QH41ZTMR*MTcwMDI1MTcyMi40MzguMS4xNzAwMjUzMjA5LjYwLjAuMA..&_ga=2.41783780.717199699.1699979578-1530196779.1538499593