Teck tosses the towel

Teck Cominco (TCK.A-T, TCK-N) has officially thrown in the towel in the fight for Inco (N-T, N-N) after failing to pick up the required two-thirds of the nickel miner’s outstanding shares by midnight on Wednesday. Teck has instructed CIBC Mellon Trust, the depositary for the offer, to promptly return all shares tendered.

Teck’s withdrawal follows its ambitious but failed attempt to raise some $5.7 billion by arranging to sell around 74 million of its class B shares overnight. That deal would have allowed the company to boost its offer to $89 per Inco share, with at least $71.20 of that taking the form of cash.

The last-minute plan was designed to combat a recent all-cash bid of $86 per share from Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (RIO-N). Inco says it is “neutral” on the Brazilian iron ore giant’s offer but is open to talks. Instead, Inco prefers its deal to be acquired by Arizona-based copper miner Phelps Dodge (PD-N) for $20.25 plus 0.672 of a share. That scheme will be put to Phelps’ shareholders on Sept. 25; regulators, including Industry Canada, must still approve CVRD’s offer.

Shares in Teck were 12 better at $82.14 in early trading in Toronto on Thursday, while Inco rose 26 to $86.81. In New York, Phelps was off US78 at US$91.16 and CVRD was up US31 at US$22.65.

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