Chinalco Says Doesn¡¯t Want Control of Rio Tinto Group (Update1)

Aluminum Corp. of China downplayed concern it will control Rio Tinto Group through a planned $19.5 billion investment, as it lobbies Australia not to block the deal on national interest grounds.

State-owned Chinalco, won¡¯t achieve ¡°any control in any sense¡± of Rio, Chairman Xiong Weiping said at a press conference in Sydney today before meeting with officials from Australia¡¯s Foreign Investment Review Board. Australia is his first foreign visit since being appointed last month.

The investment by Chinalco, already London-based Rio¡¯s largest shareholder, is part of $25 billion in spending on mines and companies planned by China last month as commodity prices slumped to seven-year lows. Australian opposition Senator Barnaby Joyce has called for an inquiry into the investments.

¡°We hope we can have a constructive discussion with Foreign Investment Review Board officials,¡± Xiong said today. ¡°We do not have current plans to increase our stake in Rio Tinto at the moment. We do not want to see any changes to this package agreement.¡±

Rio declined 6.4 percent to A$44.23 at the 4:10 p.m. Sydney time close on the Australian stock exchange. The company¡¯s shares have dropped 15 percent since agreeing the deal with Chinalco.

Chinalco agreed Feb. 12 to buy stakes in Rio projects, including iron ore and copper mines in Australia and Chile, for $12.3 billion and purchase $7.2 billion of convertible bonds. Shareholders are ¡°concerned¡± about the investment, the Australian Shareholders Association has said.

The investments face scrutiny by Australia¡¯s Treasurer Wayne Swan, who can reject them on national interest grounds. The agreement may help Australia recover faster from the effects of the global recession, Xiong said.

Copyright and Exemption Declaration :¢ÙAll articles, pictures and videos that are marked with "China Aluminum Network" on this website are copyright and belong to China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn). When transshipment, any media, website or individual must list the source from "China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn)". We seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÚArticles that marked as copy from others are for transferring more information to readers, do not represent or endorse their opinions or accuracy and reliability. When other media, website or individuals copy from our website, must keep the source. Anyone that changes the articles' sources will hold the responsibilities for copyright and law problems. We also seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÛIf any articles copied by our website concern the copyright and other problems, please contact us within one week.