John D. Paton and Nora Newton Muller advise on Rio Tinto notes offering

[private]Davis Polk & Wardwell advised Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, RBS Securities Inc. and SG Americas Securities, LLC as joint book-running managers and representatives of the underwriters on an SEC-registered offering by Rio Tinto Finance (USA) Limited of $3.5 billion principal amount of notes guaranteed by Rio Tinto plc and Rio Tinto Limited. The offering consisted of $2.0 billion principal amount of 8.95% notes due 2014 and $1.5 billion principal amount of 9.00% notes due 2019.

The Davis Polk corporate team included partner Nigel D. J. Wilson, associates Reuven B. Young and Won Juan Kim and foreign temporary associate Thomas Kulnigg (not yet admitted) of the London office. Partner John D. Paton of the London office and associate Nora Newton Muller of the Paris office provided tax advice. Haniya H. Mir of the London office was the legal assistant on the transaction.[/private]