Norway’s sovereign wealth fund voted in favor of Teck Resources Ltd.’s plan to spin off its coal business, as the Canadian miner fends off a takeover attempt by larger rival Glencore Plc.
(Bloomberg) — Norway’s sovereign wealth fund voted in favor of Teck Resources Ltd.’s plan to spin off its coal business, as the Canadian miner fends off a takeover attempt by larger rival Glencore Plc.
Norges Bank Investment Management voted to back all Teck’s resolutions at the vote scheduled for April 26, according to disclosure on its website. Norges Bank held about 1.5% of Teck’s Class B shares at the end of 2022, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The two mining companies have spent the past few weeks scrambling to win over investors ahead of the vote, after Teck revealed it had rejected an unsolicited $23 billion takeover proposal from Glencore. The Swiss commodities giant wants to buy Teck and then create two huge new companies from their combined metals and coal businesses.
Teck and its controlling shareholder, Canada’s Keevil family, have rejected the proposal and refused to enter talks. Glencore has said it will keep pursuing a deal if Teck’s spinoff doesn’t go ahead, seeking to frame Wednesday’s vote as a referendum on its own offer.
Teck’s plan to split out its coal business requires two-thirds approval from both classes of shareholders — the “supervoting” A shares dominated by the Keevil family, as well as regular Class B shares.
While several smaller Class B shareholders have expressed views on the battle, it is still not clear which way Teck’s largest investors will vote. Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp. is the biggest holder, followed by BlackRock Inc.
–With assistance from Stephen Treloar.
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