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Article: BHP Billiton abandons bid for Rio Tinto
- Article from:
- AP Worldstream
- Article date:
- November 25, 2008
- Author:
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BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's biggest mining company, abandoned a hostile $68 billion takeover bid for rival Rio Tinto Ltd., blaming the global economic downturn and plunging commodity prices.
BHP said in a statement Tuesday that the board "no longer believes that completion of the offers for Rio Tinto would be in the best interests of BHP Billiton shareholders."
The Melbourne-headquartered company launched a hostile, all-stock bid in February, offering 3.4 BHP shares for every share of Rio Tinto in a deal then valued at about $147 billion _ one of the world's biggest takeover offers. But the stock prices of the two companies have plummeted since then along with ...