The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has given clearance for Chinalco’s (Aluminium corporation of China) proposal to acquire interests in Rio Tinto plc and Rio Tinto Limited’s assets in iron ore, bauxite, alumina, aluminum and copper assets and a possible increase of up to 18% ownership of the Rio Tinto parent entity.
The ACCC investigated the potential for vertical integration between Rio Tinto’s Australian iron ore operations and Chinese steel makers which could have given Chinalco the ablility to influence global iron ore prices and reduce them to prices below competitive levels through its influence on Rio Tinto. It concluded that they could not unilaterally decrease global iron ore prices.
The Australian regulator observed that “there was limited direct competitive overlap” between the operations of the two entities in the Australian market for supply of alumina, bauxite and copper. It held that the acquisitions were unlikely to result in a ‘substantial lessening of competition.’
No comments:
Post a Comment