Leading mining companies are struggling to balance investor expectations for hefty returns with paying the necessary premiums to buy pure play copper companies as global demand for the metal sends valuations soaring.
“Engaging in large copper deals makes the boards nervous when fluctuations in other commodities, like iron ore and coal, are likely to persist,” a banker, who has worked on several mining transactions, told Reuters. Copper, used in power and construction, is set to benefit from burgeoning demand from the electric vehicle sector and new applications such as data centers for artificial intelligence.
In the past three years, thanks to higher commodity prices most miners have paid record dividends, which - although popular - are seen as eroding the industry’s ability to generate production growth via exploration, mine development, or consolidation.Investors have good reason to keep a wary eye on management’s dealmaking ambitions as most miners have a corporate history littered with failed and sometimes costly acquisitions.
Glencore eventually settled for 77% of Teck’s steelmaking coal assets after its $23 billion bid for all of the Canadian miner was spurned, while BHP was forced to walk away from Anglo American even after revising its initial bid two times to entice the smaller rival.“In past cycles, companies such as Rio Tinto engaged in substantial cash acquisitions at peak times, only to see prices crash, leaving them looking imprudent,” a mining investor said.
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