Esmark Still Waiting for Decision on Mittal Plant

State Journal, The, July, 2007 by Harris, Linda

Esmark Inc. Chairman and CEO Jim Bouchard says he's still hoping to acquire Mittal Steel Co.'s Sparrows Point plant, though the final decision is out of his hands.

Mittal is under federal order to divest the Maryland mill to satisfy concerns that its merger with Arcelor - which brings Dofasco Inc. in Canada to the corporate marriage - would skew the competitive balance in the North American tin mill product market.

The United States Department of Justice initially hoped to force the sale of Dofasco, but Arcelor's board of directors put it in a special Dutch trust to thwart what was then a hostile takeover by Mittal. That trust remains inviolate, even after Arcelor's board capitulated to the takeover.

With Dofasco out of reach, the government then turned its...

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