Rio Tinto completes divestment of talc business

RNS Number : 5224L

Rio Tinto PLC

01 August 2011

 



Rio Tinto completes divestment of talc business

1 August 2011

Rio Tinto has completed the divestment of its talc business to Imerys, a world leader in adding value to industrial minerals, for an enterprise value of US$340 million. The company acknowledged receipt of the binding offer from Imerys on 23 February 2011 and subsequently accepted the offer on 10 June 2011.

The talc business has about 1,000 employees at 20 locations in Europe, North America, Australia and Asia.

Since 2008, Rio Tinto has completed more than 20 divestments with total gross proceeds in excess of US$11 billion.

About Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group headquartered in the UK, combining Rio Tinto plc, a London and NYSE listed company, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Rio Tinto's business is finding, mining, and processing mineral resources. Major products are aluminium, copper, diamonds, energy (coal and uranium), gold, industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide, salt, talc) and iron ore. Activities span the world but are strongly represented in Australia and North America with significant businesses in South America, Asia, Europe and southern Africa.

About Imerys

The world leader in adding value to minerals, Imerys is active in 47 countries through more than 240 industrial and commercial sites. The Group achieved more than €3.3 billion in sales in 2010. Imerys develops solutions that improve its customers' product performance and manufacturing efficiency, thanks to minerals it mines and processes from reserves with rare qualities. The Group's products have a great many applications in everyday life, including construction, personal care, paper, paint, plastic, ceramics, telecommunications, beverage, filtration, etc.

Cont…/

For further information, please contact:

Media Relations, EMEA / Americas IlltudHarri Office: [phone] Mobile: [phone] Tony Shaffer Office:  [phone] Mobile: [phone] Christina Mills Office:  [phone] Mobile: [phone]	Investor Relations, London Mark Shannon Office:  [phone] Mobile: [phone] David Ovington Office:  [phone] Mobile: [phone]
Media Relations, Australia / Asia David Luff Office:  [phone] Mobile: [phone] Karen Halbert Office: [phone] Mobile: [phone] Bruce Tobin Office: [phone] Mobile: [phone]	Investor Relations, Australia Dave Skinner Office:  [phone] Mobile: [phone] Christopher Maitland Office: [phone] Mobile: [phone]
Media Relations, Canada Bryan Tucker Office: [phone] Mobile: [phone]	Investor Relations, North America Jason Combes Office:  [phone] Mobile: [phone]

Website:	www.riotinto.com
Email:	[e-mail]
Twitter:	Follow @riotinto on Twitter

High resolution photographs and media pack available at: www.riotinto.com/media

 

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