(Bloomberg) -- Rio Tinto’s UK-listed shares are trading at a big discount to its Australian stock, and Barclays Plc analysts say there’s money to be made by betting the spread will narrow. 

Rio Tinto Ltd closed at $80.58 a share in Sydney on Thursday — when converted into US dollars — while Rio Tinto Plc was more than $15 cheaper at $65.01 as of 2:50 p.m. in London. 

Buying the London shares and shorting the Sydney ones when the spread is at an extreme has generated positive returns in the past, wrote Barclays analysts including Amos Fletcher. Catalysts for the spread to narrow may be the company buying back Rio Tinto Plc shares or a broader European rally as China’s economy improves, they added. 

“We see an attractive opportunity to benefit from the narrowing of Rio Ltd-Plc spread,” wrote the analysts.  

It’s also a spotlight on how stocks tend to be cheaper in London than elsewhere. That’s part of the reason why more companies have chosen to move their listing to New York in an effort to access deeper markets and achieve higher valuations. 

In 2022, BHP Group Ltd. switched its main listing to Sydney, ending a dual arrangement with London. This week, analysts at Deutsche Bank AG predicted that Glencore Plc might be the next big company to reconsider its UK listing. 

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