The CEO of Canadian miner Teck Resources Ltd. said a revised takeover offer from Glencore Plc. was a “non-starter” that didn’t address concerns about regulatory hurdles or potential risks to investors.

Jonathan Price spoke with BNN Bloomberg on Thursday, after Teck announced its board of directors had unanimously rejected the second acquisition bid from the Swiss company.

Price said Teck’s plans to separate its coal and metals businesses into separate entities ultimately still offers more value for shareholders.

“We reviewed (Glencore’s offer) rigorously, as we always do, through a lens on value and risk and what's in the best interest of our shareholders, but ultimately, once again, we've rejected this as being a non-starter,” Price said in a television interview.

Glencore had offered US$23.1 billion to buy the Vancouver-based miner, and recently revised its bid to include a US$8.2 billion cash component to buy out uninterested Teck shareholders. BNN Bloomberg has reached out to Glencore for comment.

Price said the revised offer didn’t offer any new value for shareholders, and concerns about risks related to jurisdiction and regulatory hurdles were not addressed.

Another primary concern was related to ESG, or ethical investing, risks, Price said. Glencore’s offer would see oil trading combined with base metals, and Teck’s steelmaking coal operations would be combined with Glencore’s thermal coal operations under the acquisition proposal.

Steelmaking coal is seen as more environmentally friendly because it is needed to produce materials for the clean energy transition. Burning thermal coal, meanwhile, is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and it’s considered one of the biggest global contributors to climate change, according to research from the International Energy Agency.

Price said Teck’s plans to split its coal business into a separate entity called Elk Valley Resources has “different underlying fundamentals” from a thermal coal operation.

“There's good investor appetite for the vehicle, Elk Valley Resources, that we're proposing to create,” he said. “However, our investors don't want to see that dropped into an enormous thermal coal business for which the outlook is highly uncertain and could be value-destructive for our investors.”

Price said Teck plans to go ahead with a planned April 26 shareholder vote on the coal spinoff.

“We have strong support from our shareholders and we believe that we are offering a compelling proposition to create two world-class mining companies and give our investors the choice as to the commodity exposure that they retain,” he said.

He didn’t rule out the possibility of selling Teck’s metals business at a later date, however, if the business separation goes through.