Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Steel battle reaches a head as Mittal and Arcelor bosses agree to meet

The four-month war of attrition between Mittal and Arcelor over the future shape of the global steel industry will come to a head in the next few days when senior executives of both groups meet face-to-face for the first time to dissect Mittal’s €22bn (£15bn) takeover bid.Yesterday Lakshmi Mittal, chairman and chief executive, urged Guy DollĂ©, CEO, and Joseph Kinsch, chairman of the pan-European steel company to enter a “friendly dialogue” and negotiate directly with him - an outcome “that cannot be precluded”, Arcelor insiders said.

Savaging Arcelor’s alternative strategy of a merger with Russia’s Severstal, Mr Mittal said senior managers are likely to meet “very shortly”. But Mr Mittal insisted he had no plans to raise his bid.

As Arcelor reaffirmed the genuine value of its €13bn merger with Alexei Mordashov’s Severstal, arguing the case in a 38-page document for increasingly sceptical shareholders, Mr Mittal went out of his way to assuage Mr DollĂ©’s antagonism to himself. “We have a good relationship personally but perhaps there’s a change since we made our bid … In my perception I am still a friend,” he said before adding cautiously: “Arcelor has always come up with surprising poison pills; I hope this time the discussions are in good faith.”

Full Story at Guardian Unlimited Business

No comments: