Rio Tinto Chairman: No Plans To Halt $19.5 Billion Chinalco Deal-Paper
February 22 2009 - 7:35AM
Dow Jones News
Rio Tinto PLC (RTP) non-executive chairman Paul Skinner doesn't
intend to halt plans to proceed with a controversial $19.5 billion
fundraising deal with Aluminum Corp. of China (601600.SH), or
Chinalco, The Sunday Telegraph reported.
In an interview with the newspaper, Skinner said the amount
Chinalco is paying for Rio Tinto assets as part of the deal will
meet all of the Anglo-Australian miner's foreseeable financial
needs "even in the most problematic of global scenarios."
Skinner said the valuation of the convertible bonds and asset
transfers are "significantly better than anything offered by third
parties," including BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), which abandoned a
takeover offer for Rio last year.
Skinner declined to say what other options the company had if
shareholders blocked the deal.
"Clearly if it didn't materialize we would have to look at other
options, but I would remind you that the board is unanimously
supportive of this transaction and so would find itself in a
strange place if it were not to get shareholder approval," he told
the newspaper.
Some Rio Tinto shareholders have objected to its plan to pay off
a chunk of its massive debt by selling convertible bonds and asset
stakes to Chinalco. Rio Tinto executives have been meeting with
shareholders, listening to their concerns and gauging the consensus
view.
Newspaper Web site: www.telegraph.co.uk
-By Selina Williams, Dow Jones Newswires +44 207 842 9262;
selina.williams@dowjones.com