Friedland Backs Teck in Wake of Glencore Bid

Mining financier Robert Friedland is backing Teck Resources Ltd. (TECK.B-TSX, TECK.A-TSX, TECK-NYSE) in its bid to thwart a hostile takeover bid from Swiss metals trading giant Glencore Plc.

In a series of tweets on Twitter, Friedland indicated that he would like to see Teck and its mining assets remain under Canadian control as opposed to being swallowed by Glencore, which has a $23 billion takeover bid on the table for Teck.

“I would caution we should not lightly sacrifice such a champion at the altar of short-term gain,’’ Friedland said. “Losing another quintessential Canadian support mechanism to multinationals could corporatize and hollow out our unique ecosystem that has so successfully explored our vast land mass,’’ he said.

Friedland went on to say that he has great respect for Glencore as one of the leading metal trading houses and mining companies. “However, Teck and Glencore have vastly different cultures when it comes to exploration, mine development, and mining operations,’’ he said.

Friedland is backing Teck after the Vancouver company’s controlling shareholder and Chairman Emeritus Norman Keevil said Glencore’s takeover proposal was “the wrong one, as well as at the wrong time.’’

Keevil has said Teck’s pending separation into two independent, publicly-listed companies that will contain the company’s metal and steelmaking coal operations provides a greater set of options to maximize value, while minimizing execution risk.

Teck shareholders are set to vote on the planned spin off of the British Columbia coal operations in April 26, 2023.

Friedland, who holds a stake in Teck via his company Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. [IVN-TSX, IVPAF-OTC], said it is short-sighted to sell to Glencore without exploring Teck’s valuable opportunities across the industry.

Friedland is currently leading Ivanhoe Electric Inc. [IE-TSX, NYSE American] which recently agreed to establish a 50/50 joint venture with Saudi Arabian mining company Ma’aden Ma’aden. Under a binding heads of terms agreement that is centred on Ivanhoe’s Tyhoon exploration technology, the two companies will explore for copper, gold, silver and electric metals in Saudi Arabia.

Typhoon is the brand name for Ivanhoe electric’s proprietary electrical geophysical surveying transmitter, which can detect the presence of sulfide minerals containing copper, nickel, gold and silver as well as water an oil.

His previous endeavours include nickel discoveries in the Voisey’s Bay area of Newfoundland and Labrador and more recently copper mining operations in Mongolia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The DRC assets are held by Ivanhoe Mines.

Friedland is Executive Chairman of Ivanhoe Electric, which is led by President and CEO Taylor Melvin.

On April 18, Teck’s Class B common shares closed at $64.44, and currently trade in a 52-week range of $66.04 and $32.68.

tsx nyse otc gold silver nickel copper tsx-ivn ivanhoe-mines-ltd ivanhoe mines ltd