“The AMF considers the transaction as currently structured to raise public interest concerns,” the company said on Wednesday.
Minority shareholder CaravelCapital Investments said last week the agreement inked by Rio Tinto, Pentwater Capital Management and SailingStone Capital Partners gives dissidents preferential treatment over smaller holders.
Caravel filed complaints with both the Ontario Securities Commission and the AMF on fairness grounds, The Globe and Mail reported.
The fresh delay adds another layer of uncertainty over the deal that would grant the Rio Tinto direct ownership of the giant Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia.
Under the deal, both investors would be paid out 80% of the takeover amount being offered to all Turquoise Hill shareholders and, after a ruling from an arbitrator, the remaining 20% plus interest, and potentially much more.
The two firms, which had both openly opposed to the acquisition of…
