July 12 - Mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd./Plc. said on Thursday it has agreed to pay $38.1 billion, or $101 per common share, for Canadian aluminium company Alcan Ltd. .
Rio said the transaction, which tops a $28.8 billion offer from Alcoa Inc. , had been unanimously recommended by Alcan's board.
The proposed merger would create the world's top producer of aluminium, leapfrogging both Alcoa and new No. 1 United Company RUSAL, according to consultants Brook Hunt.
In alumina, a combined Alcan-Rio Tinto would stay fourth but bring it much closer to Alcoa's 60 percent-owned AWAC, China's Chalco and Russia's UC RUSAL.
Here is a list of top ten M&A deals in aluminium sector worldwide, according to Dealogic:
| Date/Month/Year | Target Company/Nationality | Acquirer/Nationality | Deal value ($mln) |
| *12/07/07 | Alcan Inc/Canada | Rio Tinto/Australia | 38,100 |
| 18/03/01 | Billiton plc/UK | BHP Ltd/Australia | 14,485 |
| 7/07/03 | Pechiney SA/France | Alcan Inc/Canada | 7,793 |
| 9/10/06 | Siberian-Urals Aluminium Co | Russian Aluminium/Russia | 6,600 |
| 11/08/99 | Holding/Russia Alusuisse Lonza Group AG/Swiss | Alcan Aluminium Ltd/Canada | 6,344 |
| 11/08/99 | Reynolds Metals/USA | Alcoa Inc/USA | 5,754 |
| 7/02/07 | Novelis Inc/Canada | Hindalco Industries Ltd/India | 5,731 |
| 9/03/98 | ALUMAX Inc/USA | Aluminum Co. of America/USA | 3,698 |
| 9/10/06 | Glencore International's alumina assets/Swiss | Russian Aluminium OAO (Rusal)/Russia | 3,600 |
| 8/08/06 | Swiss Aleris International Inc/USA | Texas Pacific Group/USA | 3,261 |
| * Announced/Pending. | |||
Sources: Reuters; Dealogic; ($1=C$1.05, A$1.16)