KEY POINTS:
SYDNEY - Rio Tinto's landmark US$19.5 billion ($37.6 billion) alliance with China's Chinalco was not always the frontrunner deal, Rio managing director strategy Doug Ritchie says.
Ritchie told Sky's Sunday Business programme that the Chinalco deal was one of many considered by the Rio board.
"In the considerations that the board has made, and they have been long and they have been detailed, [there were] a large number of options and it's not just a rights issue versus Chinalco, but a series of other options have been considered in great detail," he said.
Chinalco's investment will deliver the company stakes in a suite of
iron ore, copper and aluminium assets and could lift its interest in the dual-listed Rio Tinto from 9 to 18 per
cent.
Rio Tinto will use the capital injection to help tackle the US$38 billion mountain of debt it incurred buying Canadian aluminium producer Alcan in 2007.
- AAP
