Rio Tinto Extends Bid for Riversdale

Rio Tinto is not giving up on Riversdale Mining.

The company has extended its bid of 3.9 billion Australian dollars （$3.9 billion） for Riversdale by 14 days, Rio Tinto said in a statement on Thursday. Barring another extension, the deadline is now March 18.

This is the second time this month that Rio Tinto has extended its offer by two weeks.

Rio Tinto, a giant mining company with significant operations in Australia, has struggled to court Riversdale investors. The company first submitted a bid of 15 dollars a share in December, before raising the offer to 16 dollars on Dec. 23.

More than half of Riversdale is owned by three investors — Tata Steel, Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional and Passport Capital — that may be holding out for a more attractive offer. Tata Steel remains Riversdale’s largest stakeholder with about a quarter of the company’s shares. Earlier this month, Siderúrgica Nacional raised its stake in Riversdale to nearly 20 percent.

In a statement on Thursday, Tata Steel said it had not reached a decision on Rio Tinto’s offer: “T.S.L. has not yet made a decision in relation to the Rio offer and reserves its right to make that decision at any time during the offer period. T.S.L. will issue a formal statement if and when it makes such a decision.”

Rio Tinto is attracted by Riversdale’s rich anthracite and coking coal projects in Southern Africa, particularly in Mozambique. The company has two major coal projects in Mozambique representing more than 13 million tons of coal resources. Demand is rising for coking coal, a crucial component in making steel, as industrialization accelerates in Asia’s booming economies.

Riversdale, which is based in Australia, reported half-year results on Thursday. In the last half of 2010, the company lost $11.5 million compared with a $4.2 million loss in the period a year earlier. Revenue was up slightly, to $42.2 million.