Rio Tinto share price shrugs off latest blow to Turquoise Hill deal

The Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price is in the green in morning trade, up 0.9%.

Rio Tinto shares closed on Friday trading for $94.26 and are currently trading for $95.19 apiece.

Investors don’t appear overly concerned about the latest hiccup standing in the way of the S&P/ASX 200 Index‘s (ASX: XJO) latest acquisition.

Turquoise Hill may not be quite in the bag after all

The Rio Tinto share price has been in focus as the company pursues its acquisition of listed Canadian resource explorer, Turquoise Hill. Rio wants to acquire 49% of the issued and outstanding shares of Turquoise Hill that it doesn’t already own, with an eye on expanding its copper footprint.

Turquoise Hill co-owns the Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia, which Rio Tinto says is one of the largest known copper and gold deposits in the world. But there’s a lot of work to be done to get into production. According to estimates from Turquoise Hill, some US$3.6 billion of funding is required to complete the project.

With Rio delivering certainty for those financing needs, that acquisition looked to be in the bag last Tuesday.

Rio Tinto had upped its already improved non-binding proposal of C$40 cash per share for the Canadian miner to C$43 cash per share on 1 September, with an agreement made in principle.

As The Motley Fool reported on Tuesday 6 September, Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill had progressed the deal to enter into a definitive arrangement agreement. The Turquoise Hill board unanimously recommended shareholders vote in favour of the improved offer.

Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm said last week that, “After extensive negotiations, the terms of the transaction are final and there will be no further price increase.”

But on Friday, Pentwater Funds, which holds some 11.7% of Turquoise Hill shares, stated Rio’s offer “significantly undervalues” the company.

According to Pentwater (courtesy of Reuters):

The proposed price implies an equity value of $8.65 billion CAD, which is a fraction of the free cash flow that Pentwater expects Turquoise Hill to generate over the next decade. Pentwater expects Turquoise Hill to generate over $10.5 billion CAD of free cash flow through 2030.

Pentwater expects that as the world continues to move towards electrification, copper demand will outpace supply, resulting in strong copper prices over the coming decade.

Stay tuned…

Rio Tinto share price snapshot

While it hasn’t shot the lights out, the Rio Tinto share price has outperformed in 2022, down 4.5% compared to the 8.5% loss posted by the ASX 200.

The post Rio Tinto share price shrugs off latest blow to Turquoise Hill deal appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

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• Why did ASX 200 iron ore shares have such a strong end to the week?
• Why is the Rio Tinto share price lifting today?
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• Why are ASX 200 mining shares getting blasted on Wednesday?

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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