Rio Tinto acquires Alcan in US$38 billion deal

On November 8, 2007, Rio Tinto announced that approximately 98.1% of the common shares of Alcan Inc. had been validly deposited and taken up under the offer by Rio Tinto Canada Holding Inc. ("RTCH") to acquire all the shares of Alcan. RTCH will promptly exercise its right to acquire all the remaining Alcan shares by way of compulsory acquisition under the Canada Business Corporations Act. Notices of compulsory acquisition will be mailed to remaining shareholders as soon as practicable. The special committee of Alcan was advised both during an earlier hostile takeover bid by Alcoa and in this transaction by a team from Fasken Martineau led by Robert Paré, and that included, among others, Louis Séguin, William Orr and Jean Michel Lapierre (securities/M&A); and Louis Bernier and Julie Cuddihy (employment). This transaction was listed by Lexpert magazine as one of Canada's Top 10 Corporate Deals of 2007.