Rio Tinto Sells Stake in Bengalia Coal Mine for $606 Million

Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) has sold its 40 percent stake in the Bengalia coal mine in Australia for $606 million, Reuters reported. The mine is one of three in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales that Rio owns a stake in. New Hope Corp. (ASX:NHC) will buy Rio Tinto’s interest in Bengalia.
As quoted in the publication:

New Hope, capitalized at A$1.37 billion ($959 million), said last week it was hunting for acquisitions after reporting a 25-percent rise in annual profit as cost cuts outweighed a drop in energy coal prices to six-year lows.
New Hope’s stock jumped 7 percent to A$1.77 on Wednesday.
Analysts at Macquarie and Morgan Stanley said Rio had fetched a strong price for the Bengalla stake relative to their valuations of its coal assets.
Rio, advised by Deutsche Bank, earlier this year put all its coal stakes in the state of New South Wales up for sale.

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