SEOUL, South Korea — The head of a huge Australian mining company reportedly still intends to achieve its proposed takeover of Rio Tinto Ltd., the parent company of a firm that that operates coal mines in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana.
In an interview with the Korean-language Maeil Business Newspaper, BHP Billiton Ltd. chief executive Marius Kloppers said a takeover of Rio Tinto would achieve efficiencies by reducing overlapping investments in mines and other assets and would be good for South Korean steelmakers.
BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest mining company, with headquarters in Melbourne, Australia, recently made a $150 billion offer to buy London- based Rio Tinto, but the offer was rejected this month.
Rio Tinto Energy America, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto Ltd., operates the Colowyo Mine, located between Craig and Meeker in Moffat County, and three coal mines on the Wyoming side of the Powder River Basin.
Rio Tinto Ltd. announced this month that it intends to explore the possible sale of all or part of Rio Tinto Energy America. Rio Tinto Ltd. recently announced its acquisition of Canadian aluminum producer Alcan. With that move, the company said it’s reviewing the option of selling part or all of its U.S. businesses.
Steel-industry federations in Japan and China oppose Billiton’s proposed buyout of Rio Tinto Ltd.
The China Iron & Steel Association said this week such a deal would create a monopoly on iron ore and be unfair for steel producers.
The Japan Iron and Steel Federation criticized BHP Billiton’s proposal Monday, calling it undesirable for industrial competition and pricing. The two companies control 60 percent of Japan’s raw-materials imports, the federation said.
Also Monday, the International Iron and Steel Institute urged in a statement from Brussels that relevant regulatory authorities review any combination of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
“This merger is not in the public interest and should not be allowed to proceed,” said IISI Secretary General Ian Christmas in the statement.
Kloppers told the South Korean newspaper that despite opposition from global steel companies, BHP Billiton has been trying to explain to them the benefits that would come from the takeover.
He said that while the proposed deal is complicated and will take time, BHP Billiton is committed to seeing it through.
