Arcelor blames Mittal for political backlash
By agencies   |   Monday, 06 March 2006, 20:30 IST
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LONDON: Arcelor has stoked up its attack against the steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal blaming him for inflaming political opinion against his $22.1 billion bid for the Luxembourg-based steel maker. Arcelor also asserted that the final decision rests in the hands of the shareholders. Arcelor’s Chief Executive Officer, Guy Dolle said, “Mittal paid so many visits to politicians, so why do you think they are getting involved. I saw much fewer politicians.” Commenting on the issue, a Mittal spokesman denied that Mittal had provoked the politicians, saying, “Mittal visited the European politicians to satisfy the concerns they seemed to have after the announcement of the merger offer.” Meanwhile, the Spanish government said it had received details of the takeover plan but judged the information to be insufficient to alleviate doubts about the operation. Dolle now wants to turn the argument back to value, and claimed he would like the political furore to disappear. “I have said that the politicians, they have to be quiet. They are not deciding it's up to the shareholders,” he added.

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