Regulators take long, hard look at Rio

Backlash over a massive funding deal between Rio Tinto and Chinalco has shone a spotlight on smaller deals

Victoria Tait | 20-03-09 | E-mail Article

Backlash over a massive funding deal between Anglo-Australian Rio Tinto and Chinalco has shone a spotlight on smaller, but no less significant, deals as one by one regulators have extended the time they take to decide whether to approve or reject billions of dollars worth of investment in Australia's resources sector.

However, the focus remains squarely on Rio's plan to effectively sell a 19% stake in the group to China's state-run aluminium producer Chinalco for US$19.5 billion. Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) has extended its decision on Chinalco's investment in Rio Tinto by three months. The extension had spurred Rio Tinto's share price declines earlier in the week on the back of a growing view that the deal won't go ahead but the stock recouped some gains over the last two session, adding 1.6% to 2,011p in London deals on Friday. Australian parliament's approval of the Senate's overall inquiry into investment by state-run and sovereign investors in Australian companies has underpinned that view.

Let common sense prevail
Morningstar head of equities research Peter Warnes said the size and complexity of plans to sell off Australia's second biggest iron ore producer merits lengthy consideration.

"It's common sense that the regulators say, 'Hey, we need more time here'," Warnes said. "They need to get it right because they're not going to get a second chance at it."

The FIRB has also extended its review by up to a month of Fortescue Metals Group's plan to sell an 18% stake to China's Hunan Valin Iron and Steel for AU$645 million.

No margin for error
Warnes said the government's measured approach is correct: "The government is taking more time to consider these decisions and ask themselves, 'Is it the right time to be doing these things? Are we selling at the bottom of the market? Are we giving the guy with the money the crown jewels?'"

However, he emphasised that with Chinalco and Rio, there's no margin for error.

"It goes back to when Shell wanted to buy Woodside and the [Australian] government knocked it back, saying it was against the national interests," he said. "I suspect that if push comes to shove, this could be knocked back on the grounds of national interests as well."

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