Rio Tinto says $150B BHP stock bid too low

London -- British mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd. said in London Monday Australian rival BHP Billiton Ltd.'s unsolicited $150 billion stock takeover bid was too low.

Rio Tinto Chief Executive Officer Tom Albanese said merging the companies to create the world's largest mining and natural resources firm made sense.

But he told reporters BHP's offer of three of its shares for each Rio share undervalued Rio and reinforced "that BHP wants us, needs us," whereas Rio could successfully grow as a global standalone company.

Rio posted a message on its Web site Monday quoting Albanese as saying Rio management believed Rio had "a better growth pipeline than our competitors, which puts Rio Tinto in a strong position to supply the metal-hungry world."
He also said Rio's value was "yet to be fully reflected by the market."

Speaking to reporters, Albanese said Rio had "listened" but had not "engaged" with Chinese government or commercial entities that said they opposed a Rio-BHP combination.

Chinese magazine China Business said Chinese steelmakers and the China Investment Corp. planned to team up in a bid for the mining company.

London's Rio is listed on the London and Sydney stock exchanges. No. 1 mining company BHP, of Melbourne, Australia, is listed in Sydney and London.

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Copyright 2007 by United Press International.