Lundin CEO sees no strategic benefit in Equinox bid

Lundin Mining (LUN-T) Chief Executive Phil Wright said on Monday that he sees no strategic benefit from Equinox Minerals' (EQN-T) unsolicited $4.8 billion takeover bid, saying that Lundin's proposed tie-up with Inmet Mining (IMN-T) was a superior proposal.

"What are the possible strategic operational benefits that come from a combination with Equinox? I've looked and I see zero. If they're there, they're eluding me at this stage," said Wright, while addressing the BMO Metals & Mining Conference in Florida.

"If you ask me in terms of portfolio combination which is the better portfolio, Lundin-Equinox or Lundin-Inmet, then unequivocally, without focusing on the value issues, I can say that I think the Lundin-Inmet combination is something that is vastly superior," he said.

Equinox's cash and stock bid, worth $8.10 a share, comes about a month after Lundin and Inmet agreed to join forces to form a Canadian copper mining major called Symterra, worth about $9 billion.