Corus to defer shareholders’ meet
The race for Corus has gone into extra time. Anglo-Dutch steel producer Corus plans to postpone its December 4 shareholders meet for considering Tata Steel’s bid of 455 pence a share by a fortnight.
The Corus move is aimed at giving "additional time" to the Brazilian steel maker CSN, to come forward with a formal bid.
On November 17, CSN had approached Corus with a 475 pence-a-share offer to acquire the London-based steel company, trumping Tata Steel’s offer, by 20 cents per share.
"The Board of Corus has decided it is in the best interests of Corus shareholders to allow CSN some additional time to satisfy its pre-conditions and to determine whether it will put forward a formal offer," Corus said in a statement on Monday.
Corus intends to place the resolutions to shareholders at its EGM and the Court Meeting convened for December 4 for adjournment till December 20.
While CSN officials were reported in the British media to have welcomed the Corus move as "prudent", Tata Steel officials stuck to their `no comment’ stand.
From Tata’s perspective, the development indicated that CSN was not yet ready with a formal bid or a financial strategy. CSN’s bankers have, meanwhile, garnered some Corus stake from the market, with the Brazilian company believed to be having built a 20 per cent stake along with its bankers and financial advisors.
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