BHP to face SAfrica competition body over Rio bid
Tuesday, Aug 26, 2008
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JOHANNESBURG, Aug 25 - BHP Billiton , involved in a $128 billion plan to buy rival Rio Tinto , was asked by South Africa's Competition Commission on Monday to provide information to evaluate its bid.
BHP, the world's biggest miner, has in turn appealed to the Commission's sister authority, the Competition Tribunal, urging it to set aside the summonses from the Commission. The Tribunal is set to hear an urgent application by BHP on the matter.
BHP owns two aluminium smelters in South Africa and one in neighbouring Mozambique. It has coal and manganese operations South Africa, where it has a secondary listing on the Johannesburg bourse .
The Tribunal would hear BHP's application on Thursday and Friday morning, but it was likely the proceedings would be held in camera as BHP had asked for confidentiality, a media official who declined to be named said.
"BHP Billiton is objecting to a summons issued to an employee of BHP Billiton to provide certain information to the Commission," a statement from the Tribunal said.
"The Commission claims the information required is necessary to evaluate the BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto merger. According to BHP Billiton the information is irrelevant for the purposes of the investigation being undertaken by the Competition Commission."
BHP media spokesmen in Johannesburg and London were unavailable for comment.
If BHP wins Rio it would be the world's second-biggest takeover after mobile phone giant Vodafone's purchase of Mannesmann in 2000, and would create a $360 billion company.
BHP's bid has been subjected to investigations by competition authorities around the world.
The summons in South Africa comes after Australia's antitrust regulator said last week it could raise competition issues in iron ore.
With mines across Australia's ore-rich Pilbara region, Rio Tinto and BHP are the world's second- and third-largest iron ore producers, respectively, behind Brazil's Vale . Analysts reckon a combined group would control about 35 percent of the world's seaborne traded iron ore.
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