MARKET TALK: ACCC Delays BHP, Rio Tinto Iron Ore JV Ruling

7th Jul 2010 08:30

0730 GMT [Dow Jones] Australian Competition and Consumer Commission suspends the date for a ruling on BHP Billiton (BHP.AU) and Rio Tinto's (RIO.AU) planned iron ore JV. The ACCC had planned to release its finding on July 22, but now says it has suspended the decision, "at the request of the joint venture parties to allow them to make additional submissions". This latest delay does come at the request of the JV partners, but will still reaffirm the view that the ACCC is giving the deal a more thorough examination than expected; the first hints of that came with a detailed statement of issues from the regulator in March highlighting potential areas of concern. European Commission approval still seen as the biggest barrier to the deal, but ACCC no longer being taken as a given. ([email protected]) Contact us in Singapore. 65 64154 140; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 07, 2010 03:30 ET (07:30 GMT)