Rio loan shows investors willing to buy blue-chips

摘要

BANKS scared away from high-yield investments in the wake of the US sub-prime fallout seem to be willing to buy debt from blue-chip companies after Rio Tinto announced that its 40 billion US dollars debt facility was oversubscribed. Rio Tinto is taking out the loan with lead arrangers Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Credit Suisse and Societe Generale to finance the 44 billion US dollars acquisition of Canadian aluminium producer Alcan. The eagerness of investors to buy Rio Tinto's debt signals confidence that major companies will be able to weather the current turbulent market.