Rio Tinto has agreed to sell part of its Alcan packaging unit to Bemis of the US for $1.2bn, the latest move by the the Anglo-Australian miner to pay down debt.

The miner, which last week successfully completed a $15.2bn equity raising, said Bemis would pay $1bn in cash for Alcan Packaging Food Americas and a further $200m in shares. The division has operations in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina supplies packaging for food meat, dairy products and beverages.