Steel group Arcelor Mittal victim of Dofasco 'poison pill'

0 Comments | AFP, November, 2006

PARIS (AFP) — Arcelor Mittal, the newly merged steel group, said it has been prevented from selling Canadian producer Dofasco, formerly a unit of Arcelor, to ThyssenKrupp of Germany. The deal had been agreed between Mittal and ThyssenKrupp earlier this year when Mittal was battling to take over its smaller rival Arcelor.

"Arcelor Mittal has been informed that the directors of the Strategic Steel Stichting, the Dutch foundation that holds the shares of Dofasco, decided on November 10 not to dissolve the foundation, which would have permitted the sale," Arcelor Mittal said Monday. Arcelor had placed Dofasco in a Netherlands-based trust, putting it under independent control, as part of its efforts to ward off Mittal Steel by making it difficult to sell the unit. This type of...