Rio Tinto will move to compulsory acquisition of Riversdale Mining Ltd (Riversdale) after Tata Steel accepted all of its shareholding into Rio Tinto’s takeover offer for Riversdale.
Rio Tinto’s offer for Riversdale, made through Rio Tinto Jersey Holdings 2010 Ltd (RTJ), has received an overwhelming level of support from Riversdale shareholders. As of this morning, Rio Tinto has acquired 99.74% of all Riversdale shares, including Tata Steel's 26.28% stake.
Rio Tinto Energy chief executive Doug Ritchie said: “This is a great outcome for Rio Tinto. The Riversdale acquisition reinforces our strategy of investing in and operating, long-life, cost-competitive mines and businesses with significant growth potential.
“We have already started to integrate Rio Tinto’s world-class operating and technical capability into the operations. We are determined to develop Riversdale’s assets in a sustainable, mutually beneficial manner for the people of Mozambique.” RTJ now has a relevant interest in greater than 90% of the issued capital of Riversdale and intends to compulsorily acquire the remaining shares in Riversdale. Rio Tinto will seek to have Riversdale de-listed from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) after the offer has ended.