Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) shares can't shake off the broader market sell-off today, despite a modest uptick in the iron ore price to US$100.45 a tonne.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) mining giant closed yesterday trading for $119.34. In late morning trade on Wednesday, shares are changing hands for $117.14, down 1.8%.
The ASX 200 is down 1.2% at this same time.
That's today's price action for you.
Now, here's why Rio Tinto shares are grabbing multiple headlines today.
Rio Tinto shares don't only trade on the ASX
As you may be aware, Rio Tinto shares not only trade on the ASX, but also on the New York Stock Exchange, and the London Stock Exchange.
While that arrangement looks likely to remain, British hedge fund Palliser Capital is leading the push for the big miner to drop its primary London listing. BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) made a similar move in 2022 when it dropped its own London listing.
According to Palliser (quoted by The Australian Financial Review), unifying Australia's Rio Tinto Limited and the United Kingdom's Rio Tinto plc would not only "achieve a considerable increase in valuation but also optimise its capital allocation choices and unlock significant corporate governance improvements".
If the unification goes through, Palliser said Rio Tinto shares should continue to trade on the ASX, the LSE Exchange, and the NYSE.
But not everyone agrees.
Like fund manager WaveStone Capital, which owns Rio Tinto's ASX-listed shares.
WaveStone Capital's principal, Raaz Bhuyan, said unifying Rio Tinto in Australia would be "great for bankers … but there is nothing in it for investors".
Bhuyan said:
You've got all these people sitting in the cheap seats throwing stones. There are clearly lots of fees here [to investigate unification]. We should not be funding beach houses for accountants and investment bankers.
$14 billion US bond sale news
Rio Tinto shares are also making big news on a separate front today.
Citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, the AFR reported this morning that the ASX 200 miner is looking to sell between US$7 billion and US$9 billion of bonds in the US investment-grade bond market.
The proceeds (reportedly up to AU$14.3 billion) will be used to fund Rio Tinto's acquisition of Arcadium Lithium (ASX: LTM). That deal was completed last Friday, 7 March.
Arcadium Lithium is being renamed Rio Tinto Lithium. This will also include the Rincon lithium project.
Commenting on the completed acquisition last week, Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm said:
By combining Rio Tinto's scale, financial strength, operational and project development experience with Arcadium's Tier 1 assets, technical and commercial capabilities, we are creating a world-class lithium business which sits alongside our leading iron ore, aluminium and copper operations.
