Mining giant Rio Tinto has offered to buy Canadian aluminum company Alcan Inc for US$38.1 billion, the companies said yesterday, in a friendly takeover that counters a hostile bid by US-based Alcoa Inc.
In a joint statement, Rio Tinto and Alcan said the Anglo-Australian miner was offering US$101 per share for Alcan in the all-cash deal that Alcan's board was recommending to shareholders.
The bid exceeds a US$28 billion offer from Alcoa that Alcan's board roundly rejected in May, calling it inadequate.
TOP PRICE
Rio Tinto is offering a 65.5 percent premium on Alcan's all-time highest closing share price, and an almost 33 percent premium on Alcoa' offer, the statement said.
Under the deal, a new company named Rio Tinto Alcan would be based in Montreal, Canada and would be "a new global leader in the aluminum industry with large, long life, low cost assets worldwide," the statement said.
Trading of Rio Tinto's shares were halted ahead of the decision, but had earlier soared to a new record price as rumors swirled that a deal on Alcan was imminent.
"This transaction combines two leading and complementary aluminum businesses and is a further step in Rio Tinto's strategy of creating shareholder value through investing in high quality, large scale, low cost and long life assets in attractive sectors," Rio Tinto chairman Paul Skinner said in the statement.
Alcan chairman Yves Fortier said the offer was "very attractive" and offered shareholders "the certainty of a clear path to completion."
"The agreed transaction with Rio Tinto is the outcome of a rigorous and thorough process conducted by the Alcan board," he said.
"It achieves all of our stated goals, providing clearly superior value to Alcan shareholders while remaining true to our core values and obligations," he said.
Beating out BHP
Rio Tinto's all-cash offer appears designed to get in ahead of BHP Billiton, the world's biggest miner, who many believe could yet throw its hat into the ring for Alcan, an analyst said.
"It's a one-stop shop for Rio to reinforce its position in the alumina business and stop its rivals, BHP and Alcoa, from strengthening their positions too," he said.
Earlier this week, Alcoa extended its offer for Alcan until August 10, calling itself the "natural partner" for the Canadian firm.
Record metals prices fueled by booming demand from China have unleashed a wave of consolidation in the metals sector, as companies seek to snap each other up to gain scale and win ever growing profits.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique