Lakshmi Mittal, chief executive of Mittal Steel, says takeover target Arcelor's proposed acquisition of Russia's Severstal would create a company that is too dependent on European demand, according to a newspaper interview.
"One can hardly call the combination of Arcelor and Severstal, with two thirds of its sales in Europe, a global company. As far as scale effects are concerned, it doesn't come close to the advantages a merged Mittal-Arcelor would offer," he told Germany's Die Welt newspaper.
He rebuffed comments that Mittal, itself heavily dependent on demand for commodity steel, needs the deal more than Arcelor, a global leader in technology for high-value steels.
"The truth is Arcelor needs Mittal. Arcelor said it wants to improve its position in the fast-growing emerging markets -- we offer that. Arcelor wants to build up a presence in the United States -- we offer that. Arcelor wants to raise the degree of its vertical integration -- we offer that," he said.
"Alone the company would need years to achieve that which a merger would bring overnight," Mittal continued.
{{/usCountry}}"Alone the company would need years to achieve that which a merger would bring overnight," Mittal continued.
{{/usCountry}}The Indian steel magnate, who built the world's largest steel producer, denied speculation that he may look to sweeten his bid.
"The offer has reached a level at which we believe that it would be accepted with or without the recommendation of the Arcelor management ... there's no reason for a higher priced bid," he said.