The Hindu : Business : Mittal files papers with European regulators

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Saturday, Feb 18, 2006

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Mittal files papers with European regulators

Financing banks reject all-cash demand of Arcelor

NEW DELHI: Mittal Steel on Friday announced that it has filed its official papers with three European regulators and will now wait for their approval for effectively launching the 23 billion dollar bid for taking over Arcelor.

``Now that the main terms of the proposed offer have been officially made public, the next step is that the supervisory authorities will review the draft offer documentation. This process is expected to take several weeks," Mittal Steel said in a statement released here.

It said the Belgian Commission Bancaire, Financiere et des Assurances (CBFA) and the Luxembourg Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) have published the statements giving the key terms of the proposed cash and exchange offer for all Arcelor shares.

Mittal Steel said it will shortly file documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In London, banks arranging an eight billion euro ($9.5 billion) loan to help finance Mittal Steel's offer for Arcelor expect to launch syndication within weeks, bankers close to the deal said.

French bank Societe Generale last week joined Citigroup and Goldman Sachs as a bookrunner on the financing to back Mittal's bid.

The arranging banks on Friday poured cold water on Arcelor's suggestion that it would consider an all-cash bid from Mittal, saying that such an offer was highly unlikely.

Lenders said SocGen's support for the bid, which has attracted criticism from the French government, was significant.

"This is a big political decision for Societe Generale, and shows that some in the French establishment are happy to support Mittal," a banker close to the deal said.

In Paris, French Finance Minister Thierry Breton, said in separate interviews to CNN television and Le Figaro that he supported "economic patriotism" and that the present centre-right government's plans to give the nation's companies extra defences against hostile takeover bids would have a "dissuasive effect" on predators.

The government would help shield French companies from bids that were totally hostile and undertaken without prior consultation, he said.

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