Alcan and Rio Tinto in talks on takeover

Alcan (NYSE:AL) and Rio Tinto were last night in the final stages of negotating a friendly deal worth more than $30bn for the Canadian metals group to be taken over by its London-listed rival. An announcement could come as early as Thursday, though it could be Friday or Monday, according to people familiar with the matter. They cautioned that discussions could still fall apart, and that CVRD, the Brazilian metals group, and BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) , its Australian peer, had also been eyeing a takeover of Alcan and could step in with their own offers. Alcan has been searching for a buyer since Alcoa, the US aluminium company, launched a hostile $27.5bn bid at the start of May, following two years of fruitless talks about a friendly merger. Alcan has rejected Alcoa's bid as "inadequate" and said this week that it was in "negotiations with multiple third parties".