Rio Tinto Limited (ASX:RIO, LON:RIO) is at the centre of fresh reports speculating Swiss based mining giant Glencore PLC (LON:GLEN) is mulling a merger with the company.
Glencore is understood to be investigating the possibility of merging with Rio Tinto over the following year to create a company valued at about $US160 million.
Bloomberg claims Glencore has even run the idea past Rio Tinto’s biggest shareholder Chinalco to gauge its interest in a potential deal.
The reports come after the price for iron ore recently hit five-year lows and rival miner BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP) launched its latest round of cost cutting measures.
Commenting on the speculation National Australia Bank Limited
(ASX:NAB) says it still sees a takeover or merger as unlikely, but the potential for a merger swings up as the iron ore price declines.
Rio Tinto reported a net profit of $4.54 billion in the first half of the 2014 calendar year.
