Rio Failing to Find Buyer prepares coal IPORio Prepares Coal IPO After Failing to Find Buyer
Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third- largest mining company, is preparing an initial public offering for its U.S. coal unit after failing to find a buyer.
“We have made the decision that this is our preferred option for divestment,” Rio spokesman Nick Cobban said today by phone from London. Preparation for an IPO “is starting now and is expected to be completed by the end of the year,” he said.
Rio posted a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing yesterday for a share offer of at least $500 million in Cloud Peak Energy Inc., which includes four of the mines in the Rio Tinto Energy America unit located in Wyoming and Montana, Cobban said. The sale, managed by Credit Suisse AG, Morgan Stanley and RBC Capital Markets, won’t include the Colowyo mine, he said.
The $500 million figure is “indicative” rather than reflecting the amount that will be raised, Cobban added.