China, US aluminium giants pay 14.05 bln dlr for Rio Tinto stake

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2008

BEIJING (AFP) — Aluminium Corp of China and US giant Alcoa have agreed to pay 14.05 billion dollars for 12 percent of Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto plc, Chinese state media said Friday.

"(It is) the largest overseas investment ever made by a Chinese enterprise," Xinhua news agency reported, citing unnamed Chinalco sources.

State-owned Aluminium Corp, or Chinalco, and Alcoa do not intend to launch a takeover bid for Rio Tinto, the pair said in a statement earlier Friday.

Spokespeople for Chinalco contacted by AFP Friday confirmed the agreement, but declined to provide further details.

Last year, BHP Billiton made a friendly approach for Rio Tinto that valued its Australian peer at more than 130 billion dollars. However, Rio Tinto rejected...