Rio Tinto's
$RIO (-0.87%) CEO defends listing in London

CEO Jakob Stausholm has rejected calls from activist shareholders to abandon the company's primary listing in London.

Palliser Capital, a global multi-strategy fund that holds around $250 million worth of Rio Tinto shares, argued that the dual listing has destroyed $50 billion in value and hindered large-scale mergers and acquisitions.

The fund also claimed that unifying the structure under Australian listing rules could unlock $28 billion in shareholder value in the short term.

At an investor seminar in London, Stausholm argued that dual listing was valuable to shareholders.

"We have seen no compelling evidence to suggest that our current structure is not the best option for Rio Tinto,"he said, according to a Bloomberg report.

Instead, he presented a thoughtful strategy to strengthen the company's diversified portfolio.