DBRS Assigns A (low) Rating with a Stable Trend to Rio Tinto Finance Plc Three-Tranche Debt Issue

DBRS has today assigned a rating of A (low), with a Stable trend, to the multi-currency, three-tranche debt issue by Rio Tinto Finance Plc (RT Finance Plc or the Company), which is unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by Rio Tinto Plc and Rio Tinto Limited (collectively, the Guarantors). The debt to be issued by RT Finance Plc (the new RT Finance Debt) consists of the following: EUR 750 million of 2.000% notes due May 11, 2020; EUR 500 million of 2.875% notes due December 11, 2024; and GBP 500 million of 4.000% notes due December 11, 2029. DBRS expects that the proceeds of the new RT Finance Debt will be used for general corporate purposes.

The new RT Finance Debt is to be issued by way of supplement to base prospectus dated April 18, 2012 (RT Base Prospectus), and the supplement to the RT Base Prospectus dated October 29, 2012, of Rio Tinto Finance Plc and Rio Tinto Finance Limited (as Issuers) and Rio Tinto Limited and Rio Tinto plc (as Guarantors) for the issuance of up to USD $10 billion in debt securities. The new RT Finance Debt will rank pari passu without any preference among themselves and, with certain statutory exceptions, equally with all of RT Finance Plc’s other obligations, which are unsecured and not subordinated. The guarantees by Rio Tinto Plc and Rio Tinto Limited each constitute an unsecured obligation of the relevant Guarantor and, with certain statutory exceptions, ranks equally with all its other obligations, which are unsecured and not subordinated. Since Rio Tinto plc and Rio Tinto Limited are holding companies and currently conduct their operations through subsidiaries, payments on the guarantees are effectively subordinated to the other liabilities of those subsidiaries.

The new RT Finance Debt instruments and all related contractual documentation and any non-contractual obligations arising out of or in connection with the new RT Finance Debt instruments and all related contractual documentation will be governed by, and construed in accordance with, English law.

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