What to Do With Fording

Article Excerpt

FORDING CANADIAN COAL TRUST $89.55 (Toronto symbol FDG.UN; SI Rating: Average) has agreed to a takeover offer from Teck Cominco for the 80.1% of Fording that it doesn’t already own. Fording unitholders will receive $82.00 in cash and 0.245 of a Teck class B subordinate voting share per unit. Fording’s units are trading about 6% below the implied value of the offer of $93.92, which indicates that a higher bid is unlikely. Teck’s offer is worth about $14.1 billion, including $1.5 billion in new shares. The purchase price is a high 75% of Teck’s market cap of $19 billion. However, Fording’s main asset is the Elk Valley coal project in British Columbia, which Teck currently manages. That eliminates the possibility of an unpleasant surprise. As well, full control of Fording will immediately add to both earnings and cash flow. Teck aims to complete the takeover by the end of October. Teck is a buy recommendation of our affiliated newsletter The Successful Investor. Fording…