TORONTO — Rio Tinto has reached an agreement with a pair of dissident shareholders that have opposed the company’s plan to take Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. private.
Under the deal, Pentwater Capital Management LP and SailingStone Capital Partners LLC will withhold their votes on the plan that would see Rio Tinto, which already owns a 51 per cent stake in Turquoise Hill, acquire the rest of the miner for $43 per share in cash.
Instead, Pentwater and SailingStone will exercise their dissent rights under the arrangement which include mediation and the possibility of binding arbitration.
Rio Tinto reconfirmed that its proposal is its best and final offer.
The plan to take Turquoise Hill private requires approval by a two-thirds majority vote by shareholders, including Rio Tinto, and a simple majority of the votes cast by the company’s minority shareholders.
Turquoise Hill owns a 66 per cent stake in the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia. Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi LLC, a Mongolian state-owned entity, holds the remaining 34 per cent interest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2022.
Companies in this story: (TSX:TRQ)
