The move almost certainly makes Teck Metals a takeover target when big mining companies are on the hunt for copper as demand for the wiring metal accelerates and a global shortfall looms. BHP Group, Rio Tinto Group and Glencore Plc are actively looking to grow their copper exposure and have been longtime admirers of Teck’s assets across the Americas, according to people familiar with the situation.
Teck owns four copper mines in South America and Canada that produced 270,000 metric tons last year. The company expects to double copper output after the second phase of its Quebrada Blanca project in Chile ramps up to full capacity by the end of this year.
Still, the difficulty for any potential suitor for Teck’s copper assets will be the new structure, post-breakup, which funnels royalties from a separated coal business to the base metals operations, as well as a six-year phase-out of a dual-class share structure, under which…
