Shareholders in Arcelor reject the Severstal offer

A majority of Arcelor shareholders have decided to reject a proposed marriage of Arcelor with Russian steel maker Severstal.

This would help the company complete its newly announced merger deal with the Mittal Steel group. This is also good news for LN Mittal who wants the deal with Arcelor to be complete.

The rejection by the shareholders mean that the proposed Arcelor Mittal deal would go through and a new company would be formed with an annual production of over 100 million tonnes.

Arcelor chairman Joseph Kinsch spoke about the shareholders response: “With 60.4 per cent of the shareholding represented, more than 50 per cent of the shareholders voted against the operation with Severstal. The supervisory board will now proceed with the cancellation of the contract between our company and Mr. Mordashov.”