Rio Tinto may sell assets to cut debt after Alcan takeover

SYDNEY - Mining group Rio Tinto will consider selling some its own assets to pay down debt arising from its 38.1 billion US dollar takeover of Canadian aluminium group Alcan Inc, Rio Tinto chief executive Tom Albanese told ABC television in Australia on Sunday. Albanese acknowledged that the takeover will push Rio Tinto's gearing level to about 60 percent but said the group will be working "very hard to bring that gearing down quickly." "We'll be looking at the full range of Rio Tinto businesses in the new, larger Rio Tinto and see if there are (any) that either don't fit quite as well going far into the future, or businesses or assets that we might find buyers willing to pay more for them than we would necessarily see ascribed in our valuations or in our balance sheet," Albanese said.