DBRS Assigns A (low) Rating, Under Review with Developing Implications, to $4.5 Billion Xstrata Finance (Canada) Limited Debt Issue

DBRS has today assigned a rating of A (low) to $4.5 billion of guaranteed senior unsecured debt (New Xstrata (Canada) Notes) to be issued by Xstrata Finance (Canada) Limited and to be used for general corporate purposes. DBRS has placed the rating Under Review with Developing Implications. The New Xstrata (Canada) Notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior, unsecured and joint and several basis by Xstrata plc, Xstrata (Schweiz) AG, Xstrata Canada Financial Corp. and Xstrata Finance (Dubai) Limited. The New Xstrata (Canada) Notes and the guarantees will rank pari passu with all other direct, unsecured and unsubordinated obligations (except for certain limited exceptions and those obligations preferred by statute or operation of law) of Xstrata Finance (Canada) Limited and the above noted guarantors, respectively.

The $4.5 billion New Xstrata (Canada) Notes comprise: $1.25 billion of 1.800% notes due 2015; $1.75 of 2.450% notes due 2017; $1.0 of 4.000% notes due 2022; and $500 million of 5.300% notes due 2042.

DBRS placed the ratings of Xstrata plc and its related entities (Xstrata or the Company, rated A (low), R-1 (low) and Pfd-2 (low)) Under Review with Developing Implications on February 7, 2012, following the Company’s announcement that the directors of Glencore International plc (Glencore) and independent directors of Xstrata had reached an agreement on the terms of an all-share merger of Xstrata and Glencore. The merger arrangements remain subject to approval of Xstrata and Glencore shareholders and may or may not proceed. In addition, the merger arrangements have not as yet received approvals or clearances from regulatory and other agencies and bodies. Accordingly, DBRS ratings of Xstrata and its related entities remain Under Review with Developing Implications.

Notes:
All figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

The Commercial Paper of Xstrata Finance (Canada) Limited is bank-line supported.

The ratings of Xstrata Finance (Canada) Limited are bank-line supported and guaranteed by Xstrata plc. The ratings of Xstrata Canada Corporation are guaranteed by Xstrata plc.

The applicable methodology is Rating Companies in the Mining Industry, which can be found on our website under Methodologies.