Rio Tinto to meet investors on Chinalco

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The chairman of miner Rio Tinto Ltd (RIO.AX) (RIO.L) will meet shareholders in the UK and Australia over the next three weeks to test their appetite for the company's planned $19.5 billion (12.8 billion pound) tie-up with China's Chinalco, the Australia Financial Review said on Monday.

Citing a "well-placed" source, the business daily said the newly appointed Jan Du Plessis will use the trip to gauge how shareholders may vote on the deal, before reporting back to the board by the end of May.

Several major Rio investors have complained that the Chinalco deal favours one shareholder over others.

Under the plan, the Chinese group would buy stakes in Rio's iron ore, copper and aluminium assets and spend $7.2 billion on convertible debt that could double its Rio stake to 18 percent.

Some investors have also speculated Rio might have to amend the deal after its shares climbed above the $45 conversion price on the first of two tranches of the convertible notes.

The paper said Du Plessis, who has said he would not put the planned deal to a vote unless support was certain, would not base a decision on whether to hold a vote solely on the discussions.

But it said there was a chance investors will tell Du Plessis that the company should opt for a rights issue instead of the Chinalco deal.

(Reporting by Jonathan Standing)