Almaty (Kazakhstan): Mittal Steel, the world's largest steelmaker, said on Friday it had started discussions with Arcelor on its proposed takeover of the Luxemburg-based rival.
Mittal's hopes of carrying out its $27.6 billion bid lie largely in enough Arcelor shareholders rejecting an alternative in the form of a deal with Russian steel company Severstal.
"We have started discussions with Arcelor. Yesterday was the first day," Mittal's Chief Operating Officer, Malay Mukherjee told reporters during a trip to Almaty.
"Right from the very beginning we said we were willing to talk," Mukherjee added.
Asked why he believed Mittal's offer was more attractive than a deal with Severstal, he said, "We are definitely more global, our assets are more balanced. We are in all different markets and countries. Severstal is still limited to Russia and has a very small presence in the USA. We are convinced that our offer makes the best value for Arcelor shareholders."
Arcelor and Severstal were not available for comment.
Mittal launched its unsolicited bid in January. Arcelor has since launched a string of manoeuvres to escape Mittal, including extra dividends and the Severstal deal.
"It is very difficult to comment on how long a discussion will last," Mukherjee said.
"The offer is very attractive even if you look at it in terms of the present stock prices," he added.
Mukherjee said Mittal, which owns significant steel assets in Ukraine and Kazakhstan, was looking at ways to expand in the post-Soviet market, but did not say whether it was already in talks with anyone in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
"If you look at the CIS in totality, we are already number two. We are bigger than Severstal in the CIS," he said.
"We have been leaders in consolidation. We are the ones who started this in the industry. We would like the process to continue so whatever opportunities we see, we will definitely look at them," he added.
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