Rebirth of England.

Chapter 724: Investing in Rio Tinto
In the second half of 2008, with the outbreak of the subprime mortgage crisis, Rio Tinto, one of Australia's iron ore giants, also suffered a debt crisis and urgently needed external financial assistance.

At that time, BHP Billiton, another iron ore giant in Australia, took the opportunity to propose to acquire Rio Tinto for US$100 billion.

BHP Billiton is the result of the merger of two giant mining companies. BHP was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne. It is one of the oldest and largest companies in Australia.

Billiton is a British mining company and a pioneer in the international mining industry. It was once known for its continuous innovation and intensive operations.

In 2001, the two companies merged to form BHP Billiton Mining Group, which is listed as one of the world's three largest iron ore giants along with Rio Tinto and Vale of Brazil.

Although the overlap rate between BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto's shareholders was as high as 70% at that time, Rio Tinto still believed that BHP Billiton's acquisition price of US$1010 billion was too low and was unwilling to accept this acquisition.

But the global economic situation was not good at that time, and Rio Tinto was facing a debt crisis. Without the injection of external funds, it might be fatal for them.

Just at this time, China Aluminum Corporation from China entered the game.

At that time, Chalco first acquired 140% of Rio Tinto's shares for US$12 billion. Then they reached an investment agreement with Rio Tinto for a total of US$195 billion, preparing to expand its holdings in Rio Tinto to nearly 20%. In this way, Chalco will become Rio Tinto's largest shareholder and complete the acquisition of Rio Tinto.

However, because the previous funding from Chalco helped Rio Tinto resolve its debt crisis, and then, under BHP Billiton's strong lobbying, Australia began to discuss that China's holding of Rio Tinto, an iron ore giant, would damage its ore resource interests...

The most crucial thing is that, because Chinese companies had just started to go abroad for mergers and acquisitions at that time, they relied too much on the "business reputation" of the West. The penalty for breach of contract stipulated in the US$195 billion investment agreement between Chinalco and Rio Tinto was only 1%, or US$1.95 million.

In the first half of this year, because the funds from China Aluminum solved Rio Tinto’s urgent needs, and the prices of raw materials such as iron ore rose sharply, Rio Tinto’s stock price once rose by 70%!

Therefore, Rio Tinto paid a penalty of US$1.95 million to Chalco without hesitation and chose to terminate the agreement they had reached...

BHP Billiton then negotiated with Rio Tinto again on the merger of their iron ore businesses.

At this time, the West African Mining Company appeared. Although BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Vale are the world's three iron ore giants, the iron ore resources owned by the West African Mining Company at this time are also relatively considerable.

Moreover, Rio Tinto is not willing to hand over the dominance of its iron ore business to BHP Billiton - after all, in terms of scale, BHP Billiton will definitely hold a larger share in the joint venture between the two parties.

Therefore, after negotiations with the West African Mining Company, an agreement was finally reached that the West African Mining Company would invest US$200 billion in Rio Tinto and hold a 12% stake in it.

After the agreement is reached, China Aluminum's shareholding in Rio Tinto will be diluted to 10.56%, making West African Mining Company Rio Tinto's largest shareholder.

However, up to this point, West African Mining Company can only be said to have a certain say in Rio Tinto. After all, American capital still accounts for a larger proportion of Rio Tinto's shareholder structure.

Compared with the Chinese background of Chalco, the West African Mining Group's investment in Rio Tinto was more easily accepted by Australia.

After all, a considerable number of West African Mining Company's personnel came from the Australian mining company OZ Mining that they had previously acquired, and Colo, where the West African Mining Company is located, is also a Commonwealth country like Australia.

Behind the West African Mining Company, there is also the British Duke Barron, so BHP Billiton will certainly not be able to sabotage it like it did to Chalco... This time, West African Mining Company's investment in Rio Tinto will be partially financed by the United Bank of Africa. According to the current revenue of West African Mining, this part of the financing does not put too much pressure on it and it will be repaid soon.

The key point is that Rio Tinto's market value will continue to rise in the future, and there will not be too many opportunities to invest in its shares, so you must seize the opportunity.

Of course, the negotiations between the West African Mining Company and Rio Tinto have now reached the final stage.

As Barron's partner, Earl Bute knew a lot about the inside story of the West African Mining Company.

When this collaboration was announced, he couldn't help but be surprised.

Although their family's Stuart Mining Group was once glorious, its scale is now far from comparable to that of giants like Rio Tinto.

When I first met Barron, he was just a young man who inherited a not-so-large family fortune. But a few years later, the industries he controlled had become so powerful that even the West African Mining Company, which was not a core industry, had become Rio Tinto's largest shareholder.

This made Earl Bute feel very complicated.

……

Although they all came to Australia, Barron did not immediately arrange for Tamarin and Catherine, mother and daughter, to live with Bonnie and Countess of Bute in the Grace Lavender Manor on St. Mary's Island. Instead, he purchased a new manor in Melbourne and let them live there first.

Even if Barron wants these women to "live in harmony", this process must always be gradual...

Otherwise, it could turn into a Shura field in minutes.

Speaking of which, Tamaran's social circle has little intersection with Bonnie and Mrs. But. However, as a member of the upper-class ladies' circle in London who often appears, Catherine Neville has met Bonnie several times in some social occasions, and is also relatively familiar with the Countess of Bute.

Therefore, I believe it shouldn’t be too difficult for them to accept it.

But it seems that the relationship between Tamaran and Catherine Neville is quite good, almost like best friends.

There is also a reason why Catherine took the initiative to show her goodwill. After all, she herself does not have much idea of ​​competing with the women around Barron. Now after Colin Hall's death, she is with Barron, has a child, and is not short of money. She herself feels a little selfless.

Well, the only thing might be my obsession with a certain aspect of Barron...

This is also the reason why Barron specially brought Catherine and her daughter this time. On the one hand, he hopes that they can gradually get familiar with and adapt.

In addition, given Catherine's identity and personality, she and the Countess of Bute are also suitable to act as lubricants between these women.

(End of this chapter)