Friday, June 16, 2006

Mr Mordashov to drop Arcelor merger if Mittal Steel reaches 50% stake

Mr Alexei Mordashov Severstal’s chairman and principal shareholder said that the group will abandon its plan to merge with Arcelor if Mittal Steel manages to acquire a stake of 50% or more in the combined group.

Alexei Mordashov during an interview with Le Figaro said that this is unlikely to happen. He said “We have no intention of quitting. There is no reason. If Mittal Steel obtains over 50% of the new entity Arcelor-Severstal, our contact is cancelled. On the other hand, if they obtain 45% we will probably stay put.”

Mr Mordashov’s Severstal is set to acquire a 37.5% stake in the combined Arcelor- Severstal group.

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