Rio Tinto Group said it’s seeking to sell bonds in the US to help repay a bridging loan used to finance its $6.7-billion acquisition of Arcadium Lithium.
The world’s second-biggest miner didn’t specify how much it intends to raise in filings to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. A Rio spokesperson declined to comment.
Rio recently abandoned plans to raise as much as $5 billion via a share sale, following pushback from investors, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The miner completed its Arcadium takeover last week, and said it was funding the acquisition by drawing on an existing bridge loan facility valued at $7 billion, which it plans to replace with long-term debt financing. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. advised Rio on the acquisition.
“Market chatter suggests that a benchmark-sized transaction, comprising tenors of 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 30, and 40 years, is expected to follow the investor call,” CreditSights analysts including Wen Li said in a note released Tuesday. 