Rio Tinto, the Australia-listed mining group, has reportedly called in Deutsche Bank to advise on a bid for Canada's Alcan as announced takeover deals in the metals and mining sector soared to $117bn (€86.6bn) so far this year.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Rio has hired the German investment bank to prepare a move on Alcan, which rejected a $32.9bn (€24.4bn) bid from US rival Alcoa last week.