Rio Tinto Case Analysis

Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group, founded in 1873, with operations on all the continents, except for Antarctica. They are listed on London and Melbourne stock exchanges, where they are one of the largest companies listed. Its business is “finding, mining, and processing mineral resources, and their products include aluminum, copper, diamonds, thermal and metallurgical coal, uranium, gold, industrial minerals, and iron ore.” (Rio Tinto)

Rio Tinto’s vision is “to be a company that is respected and appreciated for delivering greater values as the industry’s most trusted partner.” Their strategy is well organized and it has functioned for years. However, in 2013 company made a decision to refocus their strategy by “becoming a leaner, more cash-oriented and tightly-run business.” (Rio Tinto) Basically, they want to improve performance, fortify balance sheet, and deliver greater

Firstly, in 1929, they issued stock in order to raise 2.5 million GBP for investment in Rhodesian copper mining companies. In 1962 most significant merger in company’s history has happened. They merged with the Consolidated Zinc, an Australian firm, and they formed Rio Tinto – Zinc Corporation. In 1995, companies merged into a dual listed company, and also changed the name which is known nowadays as Rio Tinto. Other major acquisitions included U.S. Borax, Kennecott Utah Copper, Nerco, and Cordero Mining Company. In 2000, they acquired North Limited and Peabody Energy Corporation. Furthermore, at the end of 2007, Rio Tinto completed its largest acquisition so far, by purchasing Alcan, Canadian aluminum company. Nowadays, Rio Tinto is organized in five operational units which are divided by the type of product, and they are Rio Tinto Copper, Alcan, Energy, Diamonds & Minerals, and Iron Ore. They have a complex structure of subsidiaries, where each of them is held by operational units mentioned