Phelps-Inco deal 2 years-plus in making

[CHIMO]

Phelps Dodge Corp. and Inco Ltd. talked about merging as well as a threesome back in late 2004 and early 2005, Phelps revealed in documents filed with regulators.

The talks fell apart, and, last October, Inco announced a friendly takeover offer of Falconbridge Ltd. The two Toronto-based miners planned to combine to create the world’s biggest nickel miner.

That deal was held up by American and European competition regulators who launched investigations into the control Inco and Falconbridge would have over certain global nickel markets.

A few days after Xstrata jumped into the fray, Phelps’ chief financial officer Ramiro Peru phoned Inco’s financial advisors at Morgan Stanley to say Phelps would be open to talking about how it could help Inco respond to the hostile bids, according to Phelps’ regulatory filing.

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