BHP / RIO

There will be masses of words written about this. The whole process is going to take some time. Here's a starting point: Bryan Frith.

Financial policy decisions

Tim Blue in the Weekend Australian writes a nice article about BHP's upcoming decision about financial policies (especially dividends and buybacks - on market vs off market). Whether shareholders will want some of the spoils returned as a fully franked dividend, or as a buyback will depend on their tax preferences.