Arcelor chairman Mr Joseph Kinsch said the group is ready to reconsider any takeover offer from Mittal Steel made entirely in cash, instead of the current cash and share bid. If Mittal Steel made an offer exclusively in cash, the board of directors would of course reconsider its position’ against the bid Mr Kinsch said at the group’s AGM. âWe are not at all stopping Mittal from improving its offer. If this is the case, the shareholders will study it and decide whether or not to tender their sharesâ? he said. Mr Kinsch also said that Arcelor has no plans to launch a share capital increase solely with a view to making the hostile takeover bid from Mittal Steel more expensive. âThe board of directors will take no measure whose aim is to scupper Mittal Steel’s offerâ? he said. âIt does not intend to launch a capital increase with the only goal of countering an offerâ? though he maintained that a capital hike could be launched in order to pursue âa value-creating industrial project.â?
