Rio Tinto ups holding in Riversdale

Rio Tinto has received acceptances for 33.04 per cent of shares in its $US3.9 billion takeover target Riversdale, the global miner said on Friday, after raising its offer for the Mozambique-focused coal miner last week.

The offer is conditional on Rio Tinto reaching 50.1 per cent control by March 23.

Rio, which last week raised its offer for Australia's Riversdale to almost A$4 billion, on Wednesday said the acceptance level had risen to 30.59% from 26.13%. The offer is conditional on Rio obtaining a more than 50% stake in Riversdale by March 23, although the bid will remain open until April 1.