e425
Filed by Inco Limited
Pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act of 1933
Subject Company: Falconbridge Limited
Commission File No. 1-11284
Inco Limited Commission File No. 1-1143
Forward-Looking Statements
This presentation contains forward-looking information about Inco and the combined company after
completion of the purchase by Inco of all outstanding shares of Falconbridge, that are intended to
be covered by the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical
facts. Words such as expect(s), feel(s), believe(s), will, may, anticipate(s) and
similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements include,
but are not limited to, financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions;
statements regarding plans, objectives and expectations with respect to future operations, products
and services and projects; statements regarding business and financial prospects; financial
multiples and accretion estimates; statements regarding anticipated financial or operating
performance and cash flows; statements regarding expected synergies and cost savings, including the
timing, from the proposed combination of the two companies; statements concerning possible
divestitures; and statements regarding strategies, objectives, goals and targets. Such statements
are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and are
generally beyond the control of Inco, that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements.
These risks and uncertainties include those discussed and identified in public filings with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made by Inco and include, but are not limited to:
the possibility that approvals or clearances required to be obtained by Inco and Falconbridge from
regulatory and other agencies and bodies will not be obtained in a timely manner; the possibility
that divestitures required by regulatory agencies may not be acceptable or may not be completed in
a timely manner; the possibility that the anticipated benefits and synergies and cost savings from
the acquisition or related divestitures cannot be fully realized; the possibility that the costs or
difficulties related to the integration of Falconbridges operations with Inco will be greater than
expected; the level of cash payments to shareholders of Falconbridge who exercise their statutory
dissenters rights in connection with the expected eventual combination of the two companies; the
possible delay in the completion of the steps required to be taken for the eventual combination of
the two companies; business and economic conditions in the principal markets for the companies
products, the supply, demand, and prices for metals to be produced, purchased intermediates and
substitutes and competing products for the primary metals and other products produced by the
companies, production and other anticipated and unanticipated costs and expenses and other risk
factors relating to the metals and mining industry as detailed from time to time in Falconbridges
and Incos reports filed with the SEC. The forward-looking statements included in this
presentation represent Incos views as of the date hereof. While Inco anticipates that subsequent
events and developments may cause Incos views to change, Inco specifically disclaims any
obligation to update these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements should not
be relied upon as representing Incos views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof. Readers
are also urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures in Incos various SEC
filings, including, but not limited to, Incos Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2005 and Incos Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31,
2006.
Important Legal Information
This presentation may be deemed to be solicitation material in respect of Incos proposed
combination with Falconbridge. Inco filed with the SEC, on October 24, 2005, a registration
statement on Form F-8 (containing an offer to purchase and a share exchange take-over bid circular)
and amendments thereto, and will file further amendments thereto in connection with the proposed
combination. Falconbridge has filed a Schedule 14D-9F in connection with Incos offer and has
filed, and will file (if required), other documents regarding the proposed combination, in each
case with the SEC.
INVESTORS AND SECURITYHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT
DOCUMENTS FILED OR THAT WILL BE FILED WITH THE SEC WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL
CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
Investors and security holders may obtain copies of the registration statement and Incos and
Falconbridges SEC filings free of charge at the SECs website (www.sec.gov). In addition,
documents filed with the SEC by Inco may be obtained free of charge by contacting Incos media or
investor relations departments.
Filings made by Inco and Falconbridge with Canadian securities regulatory authorities, including
filings made in connection with the offer, are available at www.sedar.com.
Inco Announces Enhanced Offer for Falconbridge
Conference Call and Webcast
8:30 a.m., May 15, 2006
Sandra Scott
Good morning and thanks for joining us on this call, which is being webcast on a live, listen-only
basis. A news release was issued on Saturday evening and can be obtained at www.inco.com and at
www.falconbridge.com, or by calling investor relations at (416) 361-7670 or (416) 982-7178.
Following this conference call, a PDF version of the remarks and related slides will be available
through a link on Incos and Falconbridges homepages.
Ill begin with a few housekeeping items.
First, we are including members of the public on this webcast on a live, listen-only basis. Upon
completion of the formal comments, we will take questions first from investors and analysts on the
conference call. At the conclusion of the question and answer session with investors and analysts,
the news media will be invited to ask questions of management.
The second item is the compliance statements on our mineral reserve estimates.
Third, all dollar amounts are in U.S. currency unless otherwise stated.
Given recent changes in Canadian securities legislation, I should make a few additional points:
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Actual results could differ materially from the 2006 outlook and other
forward-looking statements we make; |
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Certain material assumptions were made in developing our 2006 outlook and other
forward-looking statements; |
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We have filed the text and slides used in this presentation with the SEC and on
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Our filings with the SEC and on SEDAR contain additional information on the
material factors, risks and assumptions that could cause results to differ
materially from our forward-looking information or statements, and were used in
developing our forecast or projections. |
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Joining me at our Toronto office are Falconbridges CEO, Derek Pannell, and other members of Incos
and Falconbridges management teams. Their names are listed on the webcast slide.
Now Ill turn the call over to Incos Chairman and CEO, Scott Hand.
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Scott Hand
Good morning. On Saturday, Inco and Falconbridge announced an increase in the value of Incos
friendly offer to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Falconbridge. Ill review the
offer and then outline why combining Inco and Falconbridge remains as great a move today as it was
when we announced the acquisition last October the best value creating alternative for the
shareholders of both companies and, perhaps, the best value creating acquisition in our industry.
Assuming full proration, the offer has been increased by Cdn$5 per Falconbridge share, resulting in
a bid of Cdn$12.50 in cash and 0.524 of an Inco common share. This would mean a total Inco offer of
approximately Cdn$4.8 billion cash, and a maximum of about 201 million shares, taking into account
the conversion of Falconbridges outstanding convertible debt securities and outstanding share
options. The aggregate share component of the consideration remains unchanged.
After the transaction is completed assuming all Falconbridge common shares are tendered
current Inco shareholders would hold about 53% and former Falconbridge shareholders would hold
about 47% of the fully diluted Inco common shares.
The mailing to Falconbridge shareholders of documents related to the offer should occur within the
next two weeks and the amended offer will be open until June 30, 2006, unless withdrawn or
extended. The offer will be subject to the same conditions as before, including the receipt of
regulatory clearances and acceptance by shareholders owning at least 66 2/3% of Falconbridges
common shares on a fully diluted basis.
Let me say at the outset that I and my Board remain as convinced now as we have been since
October that the inherent value of an Inco/Falconbridge combination will make the New Inco an even
more valuable company than the stock markets are recognizing today.
We are creating a great company with great operations, great assets and great properties to grow,
with a focus on two of the best metals around nickel and copper and we are creating
significant value by joining together our companies operations in the Sudbury basin. I do not
think there is any acquisition around that offers the near-term and long-term value that this will
bring.
Why have we increased our offer by Cdn$5.00 per Falconbridge share? We are doing so simply because
of the enhanced value the Falconbridge operations have delivered. This is reflected in
Falconbridges strong cash generation.
This acquisition remains attractive on the financial metrics. Based on current First Call consensus
mean estimates for book earnings and cash flow of each company,
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the transaction would be accretive to Inco in the first full year from a GAAP earnings perspective
and significantly accretive from a cash flow perspective. Looking at our estimates of long-term
metal prices, we believe that the acquisition will be positive from a net asset value perspective.
The strong performances of both Inco and Falconbridge underpin the financial strength of the New
Inco and we will retain our investment grade credit ratings.
I maintain and Derek Pannell shares my opinion that for Incos and Falconbridges investors,
by far the best way to maximize the value of their holdings is to join our companies together. As
Derek said in Falconbridges press release: This is the right deal with the right company.
As a result of higher metals prices particularly for copper Falconbridges cash flow soared
to $668 million in the first quarter, up 48% from Q1/05. This cash flow has been utilized to
delever the balance sheet by over $750 million since the initial offer was made.
Falconbridges performance has allowed us to increase our bid and to do so in a financially prudent
manner.
Lets step back and ask the fundamental question: why is the acquisition of Falconbridge by Inco
the best and most value creating opportunity for Inco and our shareholders?
First, we are creating a company with the leadership position in nickel and a strong position in
copper, with excellent operations across the board.
Second, with the great properties the New Inco will have, our growth prospects both brownfield
and greenfield are second to none in the industry. Both partners to the transaction bring
tremendous growth options to the table.
Third, we will have the financial strength to achieve our objectives.
Fourth, we will have the potential for a multiple expansion.
And fifth, we will deliver value to Incos shareholders through the synergies that only we can
achieve in the Sudbury basin.
Acquisitions like this one are few and far between in our industry. Were not buying Falconbridge
for the sake of getting big; rather, were doing so to build a great company and were creating
substantial value.
Well have diversified, fully integrated, low-cost nickel operations in Canada and Indonesia. Were
at the forefront of technological capability in our industry; for instance, were leaders in
hydromet and currently run commercial hydromet
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operations. Combining our existing copper assets will make us a leading producer, which includes
first-rate, low-cost operations in Chile and Peru. Shareholders should carefully consider mining
companies relative asset quality. Which companies would perform best throughout the metals cycle?
My answer is that Inco/Falconbridge represents low-cost, world-class nickel and copper operations
and our cost position is poised to get even better, based on the synergies that only well be
able to realize. Inco is the only major public company in the metals industry whose costs
will go down in absolute terms this year despite $75 per barrel oil and a $0.90 Canadian dollar.
We believe that we will have the best nickel and copper growth pipeline in the industry both
greenfield and brownfield developments. In nickel, weve recently brought on Voiseys Bay and were
moving ahead at Goro. On the copper side, the New Inco will have a pipeline of new projects such as
El Pachon and El Morro plus brownfields expansion at Collahuasi. The New Incos growth profile
cannot be matched in our industry. There is no doubt in my mind that Inco and Falconbridge together
have far greater medium and long-term opportunities for strong and profitable growth than anyone
else out there and we have excellent reserve positions and a great exploration position.
We expect to achieve 30% growth in nickel production by 2009 from 2005 levels and we have the
potential to almost double low-cost copper production in just a few years. I believe that the
Inco/Falconbridge combination has the best long-term growth prospects in the metals and mining
industry.
Our financial position is strong, enabling us to finance growth. Given the combined companys cash
flow generation, the increase in Incos offer of approximately $1.9 billion will be funded without
undue stress to the pro forma balance sheet.
I now want to turn to the synergies that this acquisition will bring. They are big, they are unique
to this deal and Derek and I are firm in our conviction that they will be delivered. Indeed, as we
put the two companies together, we are confident that the synergies will grow.
I believe that the tangible operating synergies represented by the transaction are not yet
reflected in Incos share price. Lets assume a net present value of the synergies of US$3 billion,
or Cdn$3.3 billion. That represents Cdn$7.80 per share for each New Inco share an amount that is
not, in my view, reflected in Incos share price today.
Back in October, Inco and Falconbridge jointly identified annual pre-tax operating and corporate
synergies of about US$350 million, as a result of improved efficiencies and better use of
resources, primarily in the Sudbury Basin. Since the improved efficiencies will result in higher
throughput, the total value of the synergies rises with higher metal prices. In October 2005
consensus commodity
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prices for 2006 were $6.30 for nickel and $1.40 for copper. Long-term consensus prices were $3.75
for nickel and $1.05 for copper.
Those price estimates are now history. Current consensus commodity prices for 2006 have climbed to
$6.91 for nickel and $2.18 for copper and year-to-date prices are up even more sharply, at $7.27
for nickel and $2.51 for copper, based on average daily LME spot prices for 2006 through Friday,
May 12, 2006. So at year-to-date nickel and copper prices, the $350 million of annual synergies
equates to over $390 million.
In October 2005, the estimated net present value of the synergies exceeded $2.5 billion after tax,
using a 7% discount rate and then current consensus commodity prices. But at todays year-to-date
commodity prices, the estimated net present value of the synergies has climbed to over $3 billion
after tax. It would be even higher using todays actual commodity prices. Todays nickel price is
about $3 a pound higher than consensus.
We expect the synergies to be fully realized by mid-2008, assuming that the Inco/Falconbridge
transaction is completed in the second half of this year. I have said it before and I will say it again a large percentage of the synergies are unique to
the combination of our two companies and are right in our mutual backyard the Sudbury Basin,
where we have contiguous nickel mining operations that investors have urged us for years to put
together. So the intuitive answer is the correct answer: only Inco and Falconbridge can unlock and
maximize the enormous value of the synergies in the Sudbury Basin.
There have been suggestions that this major undertaking could be done through a joint venture. That
sounds nice in theory but thats all it is. The simple fact is: these synergies have not been
captured to date despite repeated efforts in the past. Realizing the synergies in Sudbury will
require major changes in materials flows in the Sudbury Basin and important long-term commitments
and investment, which we believe are only possible through the combination of our two companies. It
took about two years of working together just to reach the copper refining agreement between Inco
and Falconbridge that we signed in mid-2005. And seven months of working closely on how to maximize
synergies gives us even more confidence in what we will achieve together.
Dont lose sight of the fact that synergies in nickel are more difficult to realize than they are
in other metals. Sure, a joint venture might be able to realize a small fraction of the synergies
but a) the goal should be to maximize the synergies and b) it would take much longer for a
joint venture to produce any synergies.
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Putting aside the discussion about whether others could capture these synergies, we believe their
value should be delivered to Inco and Falconbridge shareholders, the current owners of the
operations.
Very importantly, we will need and we will want the backing of our people to ensure an even
stronger and growing long-term presence in Sudbury. I am referring to the support of both
union and non-union personnel and we have it. The Steelworkers are behind our deal. We also have
tremendous support from all levels of governments in Canada.
And finally on synergies there is considerable upside to the numbers that we have put forward for
Inco and Falconbridge. For example, the numbers do not include potential synergies between Goro and
Koniambo, Voiseys Bay and Raglan, or Falcondo and Bahodopi in Indonesia assets beyond the
Sudbury Basin that offer great promise in this regard. We have been conservative because we dont
want to overpromise and we want to remain very focused on proceeding methodically to get synergies
in the Sudbury basin, before we up the ante as I am sure we will.
We are continuing to advance our work with the U.S. Department of Justice and the European
Commission in connection with their reviews of the Inco/Falconbridge transaction.
Once we obtain the outstanding regulatory clearances, we will proceed to complete our offer for
Falconbridge.
I should point out that our amended support agreement provides for Falconbridge to pay a break fee
to Inco of US$450 million if the acquisition is not completed for the reasons set forth in the
original agreement. This is a US$130 million increase from the US$320 million break fee that was
negotiated in October.
This acquisition will transform Inco. We will be the worlds leading nickel company, with 815
million pounds of output pro forma in 2006, and just under one billion pounds in 2009. Well be a
large and very low-cost copper company, with pro forma output of 1.4 billion pounds in 2006 and the
potential to almost double output by 2011. Our nickel and copper cash costs will be very
competitive. Well have good positions in zinc, platinum group metals, cobalt and aluminum and
very attractive cash flow.
We will be diversified in what and where we mine, produce, market and sell with operations on
virtually every continent. Well have a leading position in combined estimated proven and probable
nickel mineral reserves from both sulphide and nickel laterite deposits, as well as a leading
portfolio of existing and greenfield nickel properties. Well have significant opportunities for
further growth in copper, based on combined estimated pro forma proven and probable copper mineral
reserves.
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The New Inco will be much larger and have the financing capacity to grow. Our weighted average cost
of capital is expected to decline over time, simply due to size, financial strength, and product
and geographic diversity. Well have a very solid financial position and an enterprise value of
about $38 billion moving us well up the scale of world mining companies. The Q1/06 EBITDA of the
New Inco was about $1.3 billion multiply by four and you will see that the EBITDA for 2006 would
be about $5.1 billion the last that I heard, thats pretty strong cash flow. With a re-rating in
the capital markets, a multiple expansion for the New Inco should be in our future.
Well have a very strong, experienced management team and the growth profile to attract the best
people.
Given this great acquisition and the enhanced value that we see, we have agreed to pay more, as we
announced over the weekend.
Ill make one final point. Incos Board has assessed and will continue to evaluate all strategic
alternatives that would serve our shareholders best interests both short and long-term. The
world has changed since October 2005 but today the right move for Inco has not. The best
strategic alternative for Inco and its shareholders is to acquire Falconbridge and we remain
committed to working aggressively to complete the transaction. Recent gains in copper and nickel
markets and their outstanding prospects make our friendly acquisition even more attractive
now than when it was announced.
Remember, the Inco/Falconbridge transaction was structured not only to provide immediate value
which it will but also, just as important, to deliver significant value to the shareholders of
the New Inco going forward. The New Inco will have strong operations underpinned by the significant
synergies in Sudbury and it will grow with the best projects brownfield and greenfield in the
world. The New Inco will be resource rich with a terrific exploration portfolio. And the New Inco
will be financially strong. It is pretty hard to replicate that list of attributes. In my
estimation, and Dereks, Inco and Falconbridge together will deliver shareholder value that far
exceeds the ability of any other player to realize and that is why we urge shareholders to stand
behind our deal.
Now Ill be pleased to take your questions.
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