India’s steel producer JSW Steel is considering a bid for a stake of up to 20 per cent in Canada’s Teck Resources TECK-B-T steelmaking coal business, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The Indian steel maker is in discussions with banks over potential financing for the acquisition, which may total about $2-billion, the report said, adding that the discussions are at early stage and details such as price and timing could change.
Teck Resources declined to comment, while JSW Steel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Previously, Japanese steel maker Nippon Steel and Swiss trading and mining firm Glencore had also shown interest in the Canadian miner’s coal unit. Nippon was interested in buying a stake and Glencore offered to buy the business as a stand-alone unit.
Teck last month confirmed that it was engaging with Glencore on its coal proposal, in which Glencore had offered to demerge the coal units of both companies. Glencore mines and trades thermal coal, the fossil fuel used to produce electricity, as well as smaller amounts of coking coal to make steel.
Teck, before confirming the Glencore proposal, had said it received several proposals for its coal business, as it reworks a plan to split it from its copper and zinc unit. The plan failed to secure enough shareholder support in late April.
Reuters reported in May that Canadian mining entrepreneur Pierre Lassonde was forming a consortium to buy a stake in Teck’s coal business.