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Luxembourg says new takeover bill won't affect Mittal's Arcelor bid:Posted By: William "Bill" Buckington NEW DELHI (AFP) - A Luxembourg minister said the nation has no intention of blocking Mittal Steel's controversial bid for rival Arcelor with a planned new takeover bill as he began a visit to India."There is absolutely no intention on the part of the government to meddle with the Mittal bid," said Economy Minister Jeannot Krecke, who is slated to meet Indian Trade Minister Kamal Nath, Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram and Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan during his visit to New Delhi. Krecke's statement to reporters in New Delhi came despite proposed changes to Luxembourg's takeover laws that critics have dubbed "protectionist" but which he said were aimed at securing shareholders' interests. The Luxembourg government, the single biggest shareholder in Arcelor with a 5.6 percent stake, is opposed to the bid for Netherlands-based Arcelor by Mittal Steel, controlled by India-born steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal. European hostility to the the 18.6-billion-euro (22.3-billion-dollar) bid has aroused anger in Indian government and business circles. The Indian government has accused European governments opposing the bid of discrimination. Indian media reports have said New Delhi might consider punitive action against Luxembourg if it blocked the deal. The Mittal group, whose activities are pan-European, made the bid for Arcelor in January, a move that could create a steel company with an output three times bigger than its three nearest rivals combined. The Luxembourg minister expects to discuss the Mittal bid in New Delhi although it was not the aim of the trip which was to negotiate a double taxation agreement, a Luxembourg government spokesman said earlier this month. The bid sparked has protests from such countries as Luxembourg, France and Spain as well as from European labour unions which say they are worried about job losses. Courtesy Of: Yahoo! News The information reported above is property of Yahoo! inc. and reprinted or modified with legitimate permission. We thank Yahoo! inc. for the kind cooperation with us and other shareholders. |
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