Rio Tinto bidding war: Glencore offers US$100m more for Australian coalmines

Miner initially said it was selling Coal & Allied to Yancoal, which is majority controlled by China's Yanzhou Coal

A multibillion-dollar bidding war for most of Rio Tinto's Australian coalmines has broken out between China-backed Yancoal and Glencore after the Swiss commodities company made an unexpected offer.

Rio Tinto, the world's second-largest miner, is exiting coalmining in Australia at a time of falling prices and market volatility.