ING group said that Mittal Steel needs to increase its offer a second time to convince Arcelor’s board to recommend it. Mr Alain William an ING analyst in Paris said in a report “Mittal Steel has to sweeten its offer for Arcelor and further improve its corporate governance.” Financial Times has also reported that Mittal is considering whether to increase its offer for Arcelor after the latter postponed a decision about its future until 25 June. FT said, without saying where it obtained that information that Mittal Steel might be prepared to raise its bid by as much as EUR 3 billion. According to the newspaper Mr LN Mittal said that Arcelor’s board “has provided an opening for an improved offer.” Mittal Steel improved its offer for Arcelor by 34% on 19 May, after making a first bid 27 January. As part of the improved terms, Mr LN Mittal agreed to eliminate his preferential voting rights in the combined company. Mittal Steel is now offering a share and EUR 10.05 in cash for every Arcelor share under its current offer. That values Arcelor at EUR 23.9 billion or EUR 36.08 a share, based on Mittal Steel’s closing stock price in Amsterdam on 21 June 2006. The offer closes 5 July.
