The Rio Tinto diamond company has successfully sold Alcan Composites to Swiss machinery maker, Schwetier Technologies – for $381m. This comes as part of its latest plan to address a large debt burden, reports the Australian Business of the Wall Street Journal.



The debt stems largely from the diamond company’s poorly timed acquisition of Alcan back in 2007, when it paid $US37 billion.



In addition to a string of divestments throughout 2008, the Rio Tinto diamond company received an offer from Amcor for $US2bn for Alcan Packaging and its pharmaceuticals, tobacco and European and Asian food divisions.



Lastly, a proposed sale for an undisclosed sum of 56 per cent of the Alcan Engineered Products Cable division to Platinum Equity that was announced earlier this year, will not be completed. This is due to the fact that the sale had been terminated.