Rio Tinto has triumphed in its battle to win the right to take over its hostile joint-venture partner Ivanhoe Mines, after an independent arbitrator ruled that Ivanhoe's "poison pill" defence is invalid and that Rio was not in breach of an agreement between the two firms.
Rio, which currently owns a 49% stake in Ivanhoe, had its attempts to increase its stake in the firm thwarted by Ivanhoe's introduction of a shareholders' rights plan last year, which was intended to prevent Rio from increasing its stake when its five-year agreement limiting its stake to 49% expires in January.
The two firms share a huge copper and gold project in Mongolia.
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Rio is not currently planning a full takeover bid, but said it "reserves the right to change its intention in the future."
In effect, Rio is now able to place a bid in its own time as the recent events have prevented a bidding war from happening.
Rio Tinto's share price rose 2.52% to 3,197.5p by 14:26PM.
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