Abramovich will help Mordashov in the struggle for Arcelor

The Board of Directors of the European Steel Company Arcelor on the eve supported the proposal of Indian magnate Lakshmi Mittal, thus, abandoning the merger with the Russian "Severstal". However, Alexei Mordashov has the last chance to persuade shareholders in his favor. According to Vedomosti , he may have a mighty ally - Roman Abramovich.

- "Severstal" threatens Arcelor by a court for failure to fulfill agreements
- ANTERPRESS: Dear Victory Mittal

The meeting of shareholders, where they should vote on the issue of merger transaction, will be held on June 30. The shareholders, according to the general director of the company Guy Dolle, have never voted against the recommendations of the Council. Therefore, many media now call Mittal the winner in this five -month battle. “The victory got expensive. Mittal will pay almost 50% more than the originally offered in January. But the tycoon born in India will take a huge step forward in embodied his dreams of consolidating a fragmented industry,” writes the American The Wall Street Journal (full text on the website inopressa.ru ). In the first half of the day, on Monday, Arcelor shares at European auction rose by 7.7%, Bloomberg reports.

Yesterday, the Board of Directors of Arcelor gathered at the company's headquarters in Luxembourg to decide which of the two offers of confluence - Severstal or Mittal Steel - recommend Arcelor shareholders. They will consider both transactions at the meeting on June 30. At the end of May, Alexei Mordashov’s chances looked preferable. He was going to introduce 1.2 billion euros and 89.6% of Severstal shares (along with foreign assets) and get 32.2% of Arcelor shares, and then bring a share to 38% through the ransom of Arcelor of his shares. Mittal Steel offered 25.8 billion euros, the Board of Directors of Arcelor had already refused her twice by that time. But then Arcelor shareholders were frightened that Mordashov would receive too much a share, and management had to resume negotiations with Mittal. Mordashov proposed to exclude money from the transaction and reduce his package in Arcelor to 25%, but to remove part of the restrictions from it.

On Saturday, Financial Times reported that Mittal increased the proposal for Arcelor's shares. Mittal is ready to pay 43 euros for the promotion, the Mittal family will become a minority (45%) shareholder of the United Arcelor Mittal and will not revise the labor contracts existing in Arcelor. The Board of Directors of Arcelor the day before recommended a mergers with Mittal.

“Having solved its private problem, the Arcelor company on the eve of the G8 summit in St. Petersburg seriously complicated the relations of the European Union and Russia,” Kommersant notes. “President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly transparently hinted that Russia's loyalty to Europe in the supply of energy and the issue of paraffin of energy circulation directly depends on how open the Economy of the EU for the EU for the EVA Russian companies. "

“The situation so far looks that Arcelor just used the proposal of the owner of Severstal in order to force Mittal to pay more,” experts say. The same opinion and Minister of Industry and Energy Viktor Khristenko: "I would not want to see in this situation a sign of Russophobia in relation to the stronger Russian economy, which can enter the markets of other countries."

However, Mordashov may be blocked by Mittal's offer. According to Bloomberg , ABN Amro, Consultant Mordashov is ready to provide him with funds to resume the ARCELOR money supply. Roman Abramovich Roman Abramovich is ready to stand up for a compatriot. According to Vedomosti, Abramovich is ready to finance the increase in Mordashov’s proposal, but if the transaction with Arcelor will not take place, enter the capital of Severstal. One of the Investbankers also heard the version that Severstal and the shareholders of Euraz, including Roman Abramovich, can organize an alliance and make Arcelor a new proposal.

Severstal is ready to improve the offer for Arcelor again

Severstal is surprised that its representatives were not invited to participate in a meeting of the board of directors of Arcelor SA on Sunday, which was decided by the fate of the transaction with the Russian company, according to the communique, widespread by the company.

"We have a legitimate binding agreement, which was signed by the board of directors of Arcelor. So far, he still supported him unanimously, consistently confirming the industrial logic, a more clear business reason and a higher creation (compared to a deal with Mittal) for several reasons. In the light of these circumstances, we are very surprised that the board of directors (Arcelor) did not invite us to discuss to discuss us to discuss Our new proposal, and did not provide us with the opportunity to answer, despite our requirement, ”the Russian company said.

Severstal studies all the possibilities of further actions. According to the British press, the head of Severstal Alexei Mordashov instructed his lawyers to “prepare an action plan” against those decisions of the ARCELOR leadership that may violate previously reached and documented agreements between the two companies.

Foreigner: dear victory of Mittal

On Monday, the Western press commented on an unexpected decision of the board of directors of the ARCELOR steel company on merging with Mittal Steel, and not with Severstal, as previously stated. So, He Wall Street Journal T writes about the upcoming ARCELOR shareholders on June 30, where the mergers will be finally resolved. (Full text on the website inopressa.ru .)

During the meeting, investors will have the opportunity to vote against a deal with Russian billionaire Alexei Mordashov, who was planned as the most aggressive option for the Arcelor protection from buying MitTal until the moment when the board of directors and the leadership suddenly changed their position against the backdrop of shareholders discontent. To cancel the transaction with Russia, shareholders voting more than 50% of all ARCELOR shares must vote against the transaction with Mordashov, or more than 50% of the Arcelor shares (including the shares intended for transferring it) must be transferred to Mittal. Given the unanimous recommendation of the Board of Directors of Arcelor, it seems likely that at least one of the conditions for canceling the transaction with Severstal will be completed, WSJ believes.

The merger of the two largest steel companies in the world, which has yet to be approved by shareholders, will form the titanium of the steel industry, whose operations will cover the whole world. Possessing a share of over 10% in the world market, this Union of manufacturers will more than three times ahead of its closest rival - the Japanese company Nippon Steel.

As it usually happens, politicians in this story look stupid, the American newspaper also notes. The leaders of France and Luxembourg invested a lot in upsetting the plans of Mittal - only in order to see how Arcelor (note, a private company) changed his mind. The French did not remove from this lesson. The government has already switched to the internal problems of Airbus, the current difficulties of which will hardly end as happy as the difficulties of Arcelor and Mittal.

The German Suddeutsche Zeitung writes that the greatest battle in the history of the steel industry seems to end. (Full text on the website inopressa.ru .)

On Saturday, Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov and Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal still campaigned for his proposal. On Sunday, by the middle of the day it became known that Mittal unexpectedly convened in London a meeting of the supervisory board of the company. This indicates that the decision is made in favor of Mittal.

At the end of February, the ARCELOR management assessed MitTal's proposal as unfriendly and categorically rejected it. Negotiations with Mittal were blocked for more than four months. The turn was outlined in the middle of last week. The general ARCELOR Extraordinary Assembly, scheduled for Wednesday, had to be canceled, since most of the shareholders were against unification with the White Knight, that is, with Severstal - an option that the ARCELOR leadership preferred. Resistance to the merger with Severstal in the circle of shareholders only grew. Arcelor shareholders even demanded the resignation of the head of Arcelor Guy Dolle. Almost 14 days ago, Dolle gave up and first took part in negotiations with Mittal, recalls the publication.

Obviously, Mittal and Arcelor will want to save Canadian Dofasco. It was still reported that MitTal, in the event of a combination with Arcelor, wants to transfer the concern recently received by Arcelor, to THYSSENKRUPP. If this does not happen, it will be a heavy blow for the Germans. The Thyssenkrupp concern also claimed Dofasco, but was defeated. Currently, the Dusseldorf concern is studying possible alternatives, but there is still no information about their achievement with competitors.