0133 GMT - A Bloomberg report saying that Rio Tinto and Glencore have discussed combining their businesses comes as a surprise to RBC Capital Markets analysts Kaan Peker and Ben Davis. For one, Rio Tinto has exited the coal industry, while coal giant Glencore has added assets, they say in a note. Peker and Davis wonder whether the talks followed BHP's takeover tilt at Anglo American last year. Cost benefits are hard to gauge, they say. There could be some in aluminum or copper operations, but they would likely be small, they say. "We would not expect a straight merger to happen as we believe Rio shareholders would see it as favoring Glencore," say the analysts. "But its possible there is a deal structure out there that could keep both sets of shareholders and management happy." Rio Tinto is down 0.7% in Sydney at A$118.82. (rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com; @RhiannonHoyle)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 16, 2025 20:33 ET (01:33 GMT)
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