Mittal, Arcelor spent Rs 3,000 cr over deal

LONDON: The five-month-long battle for the takeover of Arcelor by India-born L N Mittal cost about Rs 3,000 crore in terms of legal and related expenses to the two entities before they agreed to merge, says a Belgian newspaper.

The two companies spent more than 650 million dollars in the form of legal expenses, publicity and banking fees, while there might have been ever more unquoted expenses involved in the six-month battle, the 'La Libre Belgique' newspaper reported.

On conservative estimates, Lakshmi Niwas Mittal possibly spent over Rs 881 crore, but the actual spending could be higher, it said.

Arcelor spent nearly Rs 1,300 crore to defend itself against the unsolicited bid besides paying Rs 822 crore to Russian steel giant Severstal as a break-up fee.

Incidentally, the amount of Rs 3,000 crore is larger than the market caps of many of the Indian steel makers.

The market caps of companies like Essar Steel, Ispat Industries, Jindal Stainless, Bhushan Steel and Usha Martin are between Rs 600-2,400 crore, while JSW Steel's market value stood at nearly Rs 4,450 crore at the end of today's trading session.

Tata Steel, SAIL and JSW Steel are the only three exceptions whose market caps are higher than Rs 3,000 crore, sources said.