OTTAWA, Sept 1 ― Global miner Rio Tinto said today it had reached an in-principle agreement to buy the remaining 49 per cent of Canadian copper miner Turquoise Hill Resources that it does not already own for US$3.3 billion (RM14.8 billion).

The purchase price of C$43 per share in cash was a more than 19 per cent premium to the Canadian miner's last close and higher than the earlier sweetened offer of C$40 per share proposed by Rio Tinto last month.

Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill had also agreed in principle to amend certain financing arrangements between the companies to support Turquoise Hill in addressing near term liquidity, Rio Tinto said. ― Reuters