In another step towards the deal’s completion, Chinalco has received approval from the German Federal Cartel Office for its US$19.5 billion investment offer to Rio Tinto, the mining company said in an announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.
Rio said the German approval is one of the conditions required for the deal’s completion.
According to Rio, the investment also still requires approvals from regulatory bodies in both the U.S. and China.
Chinalco last week secured loans of US$21 billion from four Chinese banks in order to finance the investment.
The proposed deal has also been given the go-ahead by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Rio is seeking to reduce a large portion of its US$38.9 billion of debt by the end of the year.