CHINA ORIENTAL, ARCDELORMITTAL TAKEOVER HELD UP - AFP

Mon, 04 Aug 2008

CHINA ORIENTAL said a takeover of the firm by ARCELORMITTAL had stalled after Chinese regulators failed to give the green light to the proposed deal in the strategically key steel sector. China's anti-trust regulator failed to approve the deal for ARCELORMITTAL to take a stake of more than 70% in Oriental before a May 9 deadline, and the bid had been put on hold, a spokesperson for the firm said. ARCELORMITTAL chairperson Lakshmi Mittal said that the Chinese government did not want a foreign steelmaker controlling a leading domestic steel firm, adding he would have to settle for a 30% stake. "We may have to accept less than we wanted," the Indian billionaire and majority shareholder in ARCELORMITTAL, the world's biggest steel producer, was quoted as saying in the report. The development could be seen as a set back for his push into China, the world's biggest steel market, but the Chinese firm's spokesperson said there had been no talk yet on ditching the move for a higher stake.