Rio breaks with Chinalco; $12bn rights likely Posted by Paul Murphy on Jun 04 13:10. The Chinese must be livid. From Lina Saigol and colleagues at FT.com: Chinalco is set to walk away from a $19.5bn deal with Rio Tinto following weeks of wrangling over the terms of the transaction in a dramatic U-turn that will shock the market. A statement could be issued at 8pm London time on Thursday⦠The Chinese state-owned group could not reach agreement about a $7.2bn convertible bond that was a key part of the proposed deal. Rio is now exploring a number of alternatives, including a $12bn rights issue and creating a joint venture with rival BHP Billiton which would include stakes in eight assets that Rio had originally proposed to sell to Chinalco. The joint venture would combine Rioâs and BHPâs prized iron ore assets in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.