China Buys Stake in Teck Resources

Earlier this year, Teck was granted reprieve from its lenders on a portion of its debt, which included a $4 billion senior term loan facility and $5.81 billion senior bridge loan facility.

The deal reduced payments due this October to about $1.9 billion from $6.3 billion.

Teck also remains on the lookout for a minority partner to take about a 20% stake of its coal business.

China, on the other hand, has been aggressively pursuing major acquisitions or investments in commodity companies. In the oil industry, the Chinese have become the most aggressive deal makers, taking advantage of low oil prices to help feed the country's energy needs.

Last week, China's Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical(SHI Quote) announced it will acquire oil explorer Addax Petroleum for $7.2 billion, in what would be the largest overseas takeover ever by a Chinese company. Sinopec, a refiner, would gain access to substantial reserves in West Africa and the Middle East if the takeover of Addax is approved.

Last month, China had won a deal to take a major stake in one of the world's largest miners, Rio Tinto PLC(RTP Quote) of Australia, but the deal was scrapped after it incited a political firestorm. Rio Tinto turned away the $19.5 billion investment from the Aluminum Corp. of China(ACH Quote) after lawmakers said Australia would lose control over an enormous amount of natural resources to a state-controlled company in China.