From the New York Times:
The battle over Rio Tinto intensified earlyWednesday when BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest mining company, increased its takeover offer to about $147 billion after a Chinese rival bought a stake last week.
BHP onWednesday offered 3.4 of its shares for each share in the London-based Rio Tinto, the world’s third-largest mining company, after Rio’s board rejected an earlier three-for-one proposal as too low.
BHP, based in Melbourne, Australia, made the offer directly to Rio Tinto’s shareholders. The bid was almost 6 percent above Rio’s closing price on Tuesday in Australia.