Turquoise Hill to receive debt funding from Rio Tinto as it evaluates $2.7 bln offer

May 18 (Reuters) - Canada's Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd (TRQ) said on Wednesday Rio Tinto will provide it interim debt funding of up to $400 million while it evaluates the Anglo-Australian miner's $2.7 billion bid for the company.

Rio Tinto in March had proposed to buy out the 49% of Turquoise Hill it does not already own for about $2.7 billion in cash, paving the way for direct ownership of the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mining project in Mongolia.

However, the offer has seen opposition from major Turquoise Hill shareholders, including activist investor Pentwater Capital Management, who said the offer was too low.

Last year, Pentwater Capital had filed a class action in New York against Rio Tinto for damages, alleging the miner concealed problems that plagued the long-delayed, over-budgeted Oyu Tolgoi mine for months.

Turquoise Hill on Wednesday also said that it had received an extension of the date by when it has to raise at least $650 million to Dec. 31 from Aug. 31. (Reporting by Ruhi Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)