Rio Tinto to Acquire Alcan, Alcoa Withdrawals Offer

MONTREAL, MELBOURNE, LONDON and NEW YORK—Rio Tinto and Alcan announced they have reached an agreement for Rio Tinto to make an offer to acquire all of Alcan’s outstanding common shares for $101 per share in a recommended, all-cash transaction. The offer represents a total equity consideration for Alcan of approximately $38.1 billion. The combined aluminium product group will be named Rio Tinto Alcan.

In light of this announcement, Alcoa Inc. has withdrawn its offer to purchase Alcan. In May, Alcoa made an offer to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Alcan for $58.60 in cash and 0.4108 of a share of Alcoa common stock for each outstanding common share of Alcan.

“Rio’s offer for Alcan strongly reinforces our view of the underlying value in the aluminum industry and its bright prospects for the future,” said Alcoa Chairman and CEO Alain Belda. “However, at this price level, we have more attractive options for delivering additional value to shareholders. We will continue to deliver strong results, make targeted growth investments, trim under-performing businesses, and further enhance returns to shareholders by resuming our share repurchase program. That is a better path forward for our shareholders, our employees, and our communities.”