New Delhi: NRI billionaire Lakshmi Mittal,
who has created the world's largest steel empire through a
slew of takeovers, is gearing up to restart doing what it is
best at -- that is mergers and acquisitions.
"We are beginning to re-examine selected M&A
opportunities," said a spokesperson from ArcelorMittal, which
had last year decided to apply breaks on its merger and
acquisition spree owing to the global economic downturn and
its impact on the steel industry.
At the same time, Mittal-led world's largest steel maker
would look out for opportunities to expand its operational
presence in India, the official told a news agecny.
In India, the company has a long-standing plans for
setting up two greenfield steel plants and recently got a
operational start with acquisition of 35 percent stake in
domestic firm Uttam Galva Steel to become a co-promoter.
Besides, there are speculations that ArcelorMittal, which
was created after an over USD 30-billion merger between
erstwhile Mittal Steel and European giant Arcelor in 2006, is
looking to increase its stake to become a controlling
shareholder in London-listed Coal of Africa that it already
holds 16.3 percent shares.
While a number of smaller M&A deals followed the Arcelor
deal, the M&A spree came to a halt last year due to adverse
economic conditions, until the Uttam Galva deal last month.
"In line with our adjusted financial policy and cautious
view of the recovery and the assumption that it will be slow
and progressive, we are beginning to re-examine selected M&A
opportunities," the ArcelorMittal spokesperson said when asked
about the steel maker's inorganic growth strategy.
Regarding the company's plans for the Indian market post
the announcement of Uttam Galva deal, the spokesperson
asserted that India is a very exciting country for
ArcelorMittal.
"There is considerable potential for demand growth (in
India) in the future. India is a country where we will
continue to look into opportunities to build an increased
operational presence in the future," the official added.
ArcelorMittal is already working on two potential
greenfield projects in the country including the one to set up
a 12mtpa capacity steel plant in Orissa's Keonjhar district
with an investment of about Rs 40,000 crore.
About recent media reports which said that ArcelorMittal
is planning to increase its 16.3 percent stake in Coal of
Africa, the spokesperson said the company is currently not
interested in hiking the same.
"There is not enough evidence yet of the quality of coal
we are looking for -- if high quality ore reserves at CoAL are
proven, we might review our stance, but certainly at present
there are no plans to raise our stake," the spokesperson said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, October 02, 2009, 15:29