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2006 saw India emerging as a prominent buyer in the global market. Nobody would have thought till few years back that an Indian company would be planning to take over a larger foreign company.

But Tata Steel made it possible. And it came just a year before the company celebrates its 100 years of existence. On October 20 Tata Steel announced its £4.3 billion (Rs 36,421 crore) takeover of Anglo-Dutch steel giant Corus.

However, on December 1, a rival CSN of Brazil made a still higher offer. Soon after Tatas raised the offer to $9.2 bn from the original $8.1 bn. Tatas' revised bid of 500 pence per Corus share comes as a surprise as the Rio de Janeiro-based firm's counter offer was of 475 pence compared to the Indian corporate's original offer of 455 pence.

A company born out of the merger of Tata and Corus will means that three of the top 10 steel producing companies in the world will be in Indian hands.

The biggest steel company is Mittal Steel, owned largely by LN Mittal and his family. Earlier this year, Mittal Steel took over steel major Arcelor, which is the second largest producer of the commodity.
Corus is Europe's's second largest steel producer with revenues in 2005 of £9.2 billion and crude steel production of 18.2 million tonnes, primarily in the UK and the Netherlands. Tata Steel produces 5 million tonnes per annum.