International mining company BHP Billiton has called off its $66B bid for rival Rio Tinto, saying that it no longer believes that completion of the offers for Rio Tinto would be in the best interests of BHP Billiton shareholders.
Marius Kloppers, chief executive of BHP, said that 'recent global events and associated falls in commodity prices had altered risk dimensions.'
BHP Billiton Chairman, Don Argus, said that the decision was first and foremost about BHP Billiton shareholder value and risks to that shareholder value. "We have said that we would only seek to complete the transaction if it was in the best interests of BHP Billiton's shareholders.
"While we have not changed our view of the basic industrial logic of the combination, or of the longer term prospects for natural resource demand growth driven by emerging economies, we have concerns about the continued deterioration of near term global economic conditions, the lack of any certainty as to the time it will take for conditions to improve and the risks that these issues imply for shareholder value."
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