Amcor to snap up Rio packaging unit for $2b

SYDNEY: Global miner Rio Tinto agreed to sell its Alcan packaging unit for about $2 billion to Australia's Amcor Ltd, easing its debt burden after an ill-timed acquisition two years ago.

Amcor said the deal will make it a leading global player in key packaging markets. It marks Amcor's first big buy under Chief Executive Ken MacKenzie, following four years of fixing, closing or selling businesses which had suffered after a $3.2 billion takeover binge in Europe and the Americas earlier this decade.

The deal is a key part of Rio's efforts to pay down $38 billion in debt. Two years ago, the world's second-largest miner targeted $15 billion in asset sales to help cut debt after buying the Alcan aluminum business at the top of the market.