Rio Tinto CEO Albanese Safe Despite Pilbara JV Collapse, Says Investor
October 17 2010 - 10:47PM
Dow Jones News
Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) Chief Executive Tom Albanese is unlikely to
face shareholder anger over the collapse of the US$116 billion
Pilbara iron ore joint venture with BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), a
top-10 investor in the company's Australian listing said
Monday.
Major shareholders would be more focused on the decent
performance of the company over the past year and its prospects for
organic growth, he said.
"You don't hear people baying for blood any more," said the
investor, who wishes to remain anonymous.
Rio's board endured stern criticism from shareholders in the
wake of the company's debt-fueled US$38.1 billion takeover of
Canada's Alcan in 2007 and during 2009, when U.K. shareholders
objected to the process of a proposed placing to Aluminum Corp. of
China Ltd. (ACH), or Chinalco.
Rio's former chairman, Paul Skinner, stepped down last April
after attacks from shareholders over the Alcan deal, and planned
successor Jim Leng quit before taking up his post amid reports of
board disagreements about the Chinalco placing.
However, the failure of the Pilbara venture had been widely
expected and is unlikely to drive further criticism of Albanese or
Chairman Jan du Plessis, the investor said.
"People were crying for some action after Alcan but times have
changed. These people have made a lot of money, they're investing
again, and people have moved on from that thematic," he said.
"They've got some good organic growth and after Alcan they're
unlikely to launch into [a takeover] on that scale."
-By David Fickling, Dow Jones Newswires; +61 2 8272 4689;
david.fickling@dowjones.com