Mittal to appear before French parliament panel

The heads of Mittal Steel and Severstal will make separate appearances before French Assembly's economic affairs committee on Wednesday.

The heads of Mittal Steel and Severstal, Lakshmi Mittal and Alexei Mordashov, are to make separate appearances on Wednesday before the French National Assembly's economic affairs committee, a parliamentary source said on Tuesday.

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They will appear behind closed doors in connection with Mittal Steel's successful bid to form a partnership with European steel group Arcelor, a deal that was concluded Sunday and will now be put to Arcelor shareholders.

Arcelor management until Sunday had been fiercely opposed to an alliance with Mittal and at one point sought a merger with Russian group Severstal in order to thwart the Mittal initiative.

The board changed its mind on Sunday after Mittal offered a substantial increase in his bid, which was first announced in late January.

Arcelor shareholders are nonetheless scheduled to meet on Friday at a special general assembly to vote on the proposed merger with Severstal.