June 20 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) Ltd RIO.AX
* Rio Tinto reconfirms Yancoal as the preferred buyer of Coal & Allied Industries
* recommendation follows consideration by board of proposal from Glencore (LON:GLEN)
* board is recommending Yancoal's proposal
* "believe yancoal's offer to purchase our thermal coal assets for $2.45 billion offers best value and greater transaction certainty for shareholders."
* expects transaction to complete in Q3 of 2017 Source text for Eikon: ID:nASX2n8Vv6 Further company coverage: RIO.AX