Tata Steel Outbids CSN for Corus
India’s Tata Steel is set to become the world’s fifth-largest steelmaker after winning a bid battle for Anglo-Dutch group Corus with a $12.2 billion offer. According to Tata Steel, its bid topped the best offer from Brazil’s Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) after an auction that drove the price for Corus almost a fifth higher. Tata’s bid is 49% above Corus’ closing share price on Oct. 4, 2006 – the day before Tata Steel first revealed its interest. It is also a third higher than Tata Steel’s first bid and 18% above CSN’s bid, which was the best price when the auction started Tuesday.According to Tata Steel, the deal will triple its capacity to almost 28 million metric tons a year (from 8.7 million metric tons currently) at half the cost of building new plants. Tata Steel would pay $4.1 billion for Corus and finance the balance by debt.