Indian-born steel magnate Mr Lakshmi Mittal claims to have won the backing of German-based investors of Arcelor for his unsolicited bid for the world’s number two steelmaker, despite a refusal to sweeten the offer price, a German newspaper reported 9 February. “The majority of investors are for the transaction, they see the value that we can create through it,” the Financial Times Deutschland daily quoted Mittal, the founder of global number one Mittal Steel as saying after a closed-door meeting with Arcelor shareholders in Frankfurt. However, it was not immediately clear how much of Arcelor German investors hold. The report said Mr Mittal had once again ruled out raising his bid for Arcelor.
