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Luxembourg decides on Mittal bid today
L'bourg Parliament's finance committee votes on new takeover rules that could affect Mittal's $23 bn offer for Arcelor.
The Luxembourg Parliament's finance committee votes on Wednesday on new takeover rules that could affect Mittal Steel Co.'s $23 billion offer for Arcelor SA.
Mittal Chairman and Chief Executive Lakshmi Mittal said on Friday he was confident the Luxembourg government would not take any action that could hurt the country's reputation as a place of investment.
Last week, the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce - headed by Arcelor Vice President Michel Wurth - suggested changes to takeover rules that would force Mittal to make an all-cash bid.
The change would prevent companies with less than 25 per cent of their shares in free float from making a cash-and-stock bid for a Luxembourg company. Some 88 per cent of Mittal is held by Lakshmi Mittal and his family.
"You can understand when the Chamber of Commerce has a president, who is the vice president of Arcelor, what would be the intention of this," Mittal told reporters.
Luxembourg Finance Minister Luc Frieden has insisted that the draft law sets out general principles for takeovers to make sure all shareholders are treated equally and receive enough time to make a decision about an offer.
"This is not an anti-Mittal law and it's not a pro-Arcelor law," he said. "The government wants this country .
