The Hindu Business Line : Tata Steel may up bid for Corus

The battle for acquisition of Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus is likely to see a fair bit of financial blood spilling, with the two rival suitors, Tata Steel and the Brazilian steel company CSN, gearing for a bidding match.

Tata Steel board met on Thursday to take stock of the situation after CSN approached Corus last week with a 475 pence-a-share offer, trumping Tata's earlier offer of 455 pence a share.

After debating various options, the board of Tata Steel veered round to the view that it had to up its bid to stay in the Corus race. For the time being, however, Tata Steel will not be showing its hand.

Today's board meeting at Bombay House, the headquarters of Tata Steel, ran for almost three hours.

`No comments'

Media persons waiting in front of Bombay House were greeted with a `no comments' gesture from the board members. Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Steel, waved aside media persons as he slid into his black Mercedes, saying "talk to Mr Muthuraman (Tata Steel's Managing Director)."

Minutes earlier, Mr Muthuraman himself went through the same drill, with a terse "no comment" statement, before he drove off.

Sources following the deal said Tata was getting ready to up its bid in small measures to match a possible re-bid by its rival CSN. Bankers have also been alerted on the development.

CSN appears to be more vocal in its quest for Corus. A senior official of CSN was quoted in the British media as saying that "Tata is a nice fit for Corus, but we think we probably are the best fit."

Earlier reports in the British media indicated that CSN is even prepared to further up its bid for control of Corus.

More Stories on : Steel | Mergers & Acquisitions | Tata Steel Ltd

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