Rio Tinto Completes $340 Million Talc Unit Sale To Imerys

Anglo-Australian mining titan Rio Tinto PLC (RIO, RIO.LN) Monday said it has completed the sale of its talc business to French-based company Imerys SA (NK.FR) for an enterprise value of $340 million.

Rio Tinto had acknowledged receipt of a binding offer from Imerys on Feb 23 and subsequently accepted the offer on June 10. The European Commission cleared the deal on July 8, noting that the transaction would not significantly alter the structure of the talc market.

Talc is a fine-grained white or gray mineral that has a soft, soapy feel and which is used to make talcum and face powders as well as fillers for paint and plastics.

Rio's talc business has about 1,000 employees at 20 locations in Europe, North America, Australia and Asia.

Since 2008, Rio Tinto has completed more than 20 divestments with gross proceeds amounting to more than $11 billion.

-By Alex MacDonald, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]