Turquoise Hill minority shareholder ‘not interested’ in Rio Tinto’s $3.3bn offer

Mining giant Rio Tinto, which owns a majority stake in Turquoise Hill, on Thursday reached an in-principle agreement to buy a 49% stake in Turquoise Hill for C$43 per share.

California-based SailingStone Capital Partners, which owns a 2.16% stake in Turquoise Hill, said the cash offer for the stake does not “adequately compensate” minority shareholders for their economic interest in Oyu Tolgoi.

The Oyu Tolgoi project, located south of Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar, is the world’s largest known copper and gold deposit.

The deal to buy the remaining stake in Turquoise Hill would give Rio Tinto a 66% stake in the Oyu Tolgoi project, with the remaining 34% owned by the Mongolian government.

“Rio Tinto holds its interest in Turquoise Hill on the Rio balance sheet at $41 per share, the equivalent of C$56 per share at current exchange rates and a more than 30% premium to the revised offer,” SailingStone said.

“As large, long-term holders of Turquoise Hill, we are not interested in selling our stake at a massive discount to intrinsic value.”

Private investment firm Pentwater Capital Management, a Turquoise Hill shareholder with a 10% stake, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the latest offer from Rio Tinto.

Pentwater had previously rejected Rio’s initial offer of C$34 per share made in mid-March.