Valin admits concern over Fortescue debt level

China Hunan Valin Iron & Steel confirmed that it is in talks about taking a controlling stake in Fortescue Metals Group, but expressed concern about the Australian mining company’s debt level, Bloomberg reported."We do have concerns that they have rather high debt levels and the financial risks are quite big," said Li Jianguo, general manager of Valin. He added that no bankers have been brought in yet because talks are still at an early stage. Fortescue, which is US$3 billion in debt, has confirmed reports that it held investment talks with China Investment Corp, China’s sovereign wealth fund, and Anglo American. Baosteel Chairman Xu Lejiang said Thursday that his company is not involved in similar discussions.