Will Chinalco and Alcoa counter BHPB bid for Rio Tinto?
As BHP Billiton officially formalized its hostile takeover bid for Rio Tinto Wednesday, Chinalco and Alcoa could either chose to submit a counterbid, join a consortium with BHP, or walk away. Author: Tom Miles and Tony Munroe Posted: Wednesday , 06 Feb 2008 HONG KONG (Reuters) – China’s state-owned aluminium giant Chinalco and its partner Alcoa Inc began analysing BHP Billiton’s $147 billion bid for Rio Tinto on Wednesday and said there would be no quick reaction. The two firms built a surprise 9 percent stake in Rio last week in a move that analysts said was perfectly timed to stymie any hostile bid from BHP, forcing it to sweeten its offer in what would be the world’s biggest ever mining merger. Their last-minute share purchase forced BHP into a weekend dilemma between risking a bidding war with Chinalco, which has reserved the right to counterbid, or withdrawing and walking away for six months, under British takeover rules. Another option would be for BHP to bring Chinalco into a bi
