Rio Tinto banks on Asian giants to justify huge Alcan bid

SYDNEY - Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto has defended the price it has offered for Canada's Alcan, saying that the robust economic growth of China and India would see the business prosper. The 38.1 billion dollar bid for the aluminium producer, the mining industry's biggest-ever acquisition, would secure "a first-class, tier-one asset", chief executive Tom Albanese said Sunday. "There aren't many of them out in the mining sector and in the market right now," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Inside Business programme. The creation of the world's largest aluminum company, to be called Rio Tinto Alcan, would benefit from the rapid economic growth of China and India, Albanese said. India's growth was five years behind China's but gross domestic product in both countries was expected to increase at almost nine percent annually until 2015, he said. "In a metal like aluminium, which is very much going to benefit as we see China continue to grow, we have found that confluence point where we are able to provide an offer which fully met the needs of the Alcan shareholders." The offer was also "in the mantra of value that we have within Rio Tinto and very much consistent and complimentary with our strategy". But international ratings agency Fitch Ratings said it was placing Rio Tinto on credit watch negative, noting the proposed transaction was highly leveraged and taking place "at the top of the current commodity price cycle." Albanese said Rio Tinto's strong cash flows would help drive down higher debt levels. "We have a strong, robust set of cash flows within Rio Tinto, with cash generated from operations running at roughly one billion dollars a month," he said. Proceeds from the sale of Alcan's packaging unit, which was a large part of its business, would be used to pay down some of the debt and other potential asset sales could be possible after a sweeping review of the new, larger Rio Tinto operation, he said. Albanese said Alcan's hydro-power contracts were an important part of the acquisition. "I think it was very important in our recognition that the access to long-term, low-cost, sustainable energy with essentially a zero-carbon footprint, very much puts the Alcan aluminium production in a competitive advantage," he said. That advantage was certain to grow in the future "when energy becomes more expensive, and potentially energy becomes carbon-constrained." Fitch Ratings also noted that a bidding war could still break out for Alcan, which attracted a hostile 33 billion cash-and-stock offer from US firm Alcoa before Rio Tinto came in as a "white knight" saviour. Albanese stressed the importance of the deal being on friendly terms and said it was preceded by discussions that "literally go back decades". With the threat of rival offers it was important to get in early. "I think it was important for us to get an early foot in the door, but of course, it was very difficult set of negotiations and it's been a very competitive process over the past several months." The acquisition still needs to be approved by regulators.