Chinalco Has No Alternative Plan for Rio Investment

March 31 (Bloomberg) -- Aluminum Corp. of China, the nation’s largest producer of the metal, currently has no alternative plan for its $19.5 billion investment in Rio Tinto Group, Chairman Xiong Weiping said today. “We haven’t seen any signs that the investment plan will be rejected,” which will call for an alternative, Xiong said in a conference in Hong Kong. Chinese investments face increasing attention in Australia, with Treasurer Wayne Swan last week rejecting China Minmetals Group’s proposed A$2.6 billion ($1.8 billion) bid for OZ Minerals Ltd. on national-security concerns. Swan is due to rule on Aluminum Corp’s investment by mid-June. State-owned Chinalco, as the Beijing-based company is known, plans to buy $7.2 billion of convertible debt and $12.3 billion worth of stakes in projects owned by Rio, the world’s third- largest mining company. It will own 18 percent of London-based Rio, which has about one-third of its assets in Australia, should it convert the debt. Rio Tinto’s Chief Financial Officer Guy Elliott last week said the company has a “Plan B” should the Chinalco investment get blocked by regulators or shareholders. That may involve the sale of assets, shares, debt or a combination to help the company raise funds to repay debt, he said. “As a company and as management, we must have plans for the success or the failure” of our projects, Xiong said today in response to questions. “Ask me again in June when the result will be out.” Xiong had previously said Chinalco doesn’t want to alter its investment plans in Rio Tinto.