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Chinalco buys $1.5B Rio Tinto shares

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-02 14:50

BEIJING: Aluminum Corporation of China (Chinalco) confirmed Thursday it had bought US$1.5 billion of Rio Tinto shares to cement its 9 percent shareholding in the miner.

Related readings:  Local banks to fund Chinalco's rights bid  Chinalco to take up Rio rights issue: source  Rio Seeks Tie-up With BHP After Chinalco's Rio Bid Fails  Chinalco confirms deal breakup with Rio Tinto  Rio Tinto-Chinalco $19.5B deal now dead

The deal was made to maximize the interests of Chinalco, Lu Youqing, Chinalco's vice president, told Xinhua.

If Chinalco did not made the deal, its shareholding in the miner would decrease from 9.3 percent to about 6 percent.

The deal came after Chinalco's US$19.5 billion bid failed last month to raise its stake in Rio Tinto.