The U.S. has cleared Aluminum Corp of China to take an 18 percent stake in Rio Tinto.

The Committee of Foreign Investment in the United States approved the deal on Friday, the companies said. Rio Tinto would issue $7.2 billion in convertible bonds to Chinalco in the deal.

The deal has already been approved by Australia’s anti-trust regulator. It must still be approved by that nation’s Foreign Investment Review Board.

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