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London: Mittal Steel, owned by steel tycoon L N Mittal, on Wednesday announced that it has acquired shares and convertible bonds representing 92 per cent of Arcelor SA.
The combined company would have a market capitalisation of $44.3 billion after Mittal issued new shares to buy Arcelor, Rotterdam-based Mittal said in an email.
Mittal said it paid 665.6 million of its shares and 7.77 billion euros $9.78 billion for 594.5 million Arcelor shares and 19.9 million convertible bonds.
Mittal, which on July 18 announced acquiring 50 per cent share in Arcelor fulfilling the minimum requirement for takeover of the rival, on Wednesday said 594.5 million shares and 19.9 million Arcelor convertible bonds had so far been tendered, representing 91.88 per cent of the group's fully - diluted share capital.
The company announced that it would on Thursday reopen its offer for Arcelor that would give shareholders of the Luxembourg-based firm time until August 17 to tender their shares into Mittal's offer.
"I am delighted at this result which is a resounding endorsement of the strategic logic and value of the merger of Mittal Steel and Arcelor, a truly industry transforming deal," L N Mittal said in a statement in London.
"We are very excited about our future as one company and believe this strong vote of confidence from shareholders paves the way for a speedy integration process allowing us to realise the full benefits of working together as the undisputed world steel leader," he said.
According to experts, ever since Mittal made the offer to Arcelor, the combined market capitalisation of the two companies has gone up by $8 billion.
The merged entity, to be christened Arcelor-Mittal, would control 10 per cent of the world's steel making capacity that is currently estimated at 1,000 million tonnes a year.
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