Rio Tinto scraps plans to raise up to US$5 billion in share sale

RIO Tinto has scrapped plans to raise as much as US$5 billion in a share sale following pushback from investors, sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Executives at the mining giant had floated the possibility of an equity offering in recent investor meetings after announcing its results, the sources said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The fundraising could have been used to help pay for its US$6.7 billion takeover of Arcadium Lithium as well as rebalance its shareholding between UK and Australian investors.

Chief executive officer Jakob Stausholm said last month that raising money to rebalance the company’s share register was a possibility, but that no decision had been made.

Rio decided to shelve the idea after getting significant pushback from investors in recent meetings, especially as the company did not think the offering was a financial necessity, the sources said.

A representative for Rio declined to comment.

The miner completed its Arcadium takeover this week, and said it was funding the acquisition by drawing on an existing bridge loan facility, which it plans to replace with long-term debt financing. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase advised Rio on the acquisition.

As well as helping to pay for the Arcadium transaction, the raise would have also added more liquidity among its Australian holders. Its share register is much more weighted to London, with about three-quarters of its stock there.

Shares of Rio have gained 1.7 per cent in London trading this year, giving the company a market value of about £81 billion (S$139 billion). The benchmark FTSE 100 Index is up 6.2 per cent over the same period.

The company has faced calls from an activist investor to unify its dual listing into an Australian-domiciled holding company. Rio has refuted the call saying it would cost billions and there is nothing to gain. Still, investors will get to vote on the idea at its upcoming annual shareholder meetings in both the UK and Australia.

The idea of raising fresh capital comes at a pivotal time for the mining industry. After spending nearly a decade funnelling billions of US dollars back to shareholders – often as a result of bumper commodity prices and asset sales – the industry is now facing a period of potentially lower metal prices while it still needs to pay for growth. BLOOMBERG