SteelOrbis Shanghai
On January 14, ArcelorMittal launched its bid to acquire all outstanding shares in privately-owned Chinese steel company China Oriental Group. As disclosed by ArcelorMittal, it has already submitted its acquisition plan to the relevant authorities for an antitrust review and has not received any negative feedback yet.
The starting date for this acquisition proposal is January 14, with the deadline set at 4 pm, February 4. The first payment will be made at HKD 6.12 ($0.78) per share, and the total value will not exceed HKD 6 billion ($769.41 million).
ArcelorMittal previously paid $647 million for a 28-percent stake in China Oriental in early November 2007. The latest purchase price generates a 13.3-percent premium compared with the closing price of HKD 5.40 on the last day before the suspension of trading on November 7.
China Oriental Group mainly manufactures and sells steel products such as billets, strips, H-beams, cold rolled and galvanized strip through its principal operating subsidiaries, Hebei Jinxi Iron & Steel in Hebei Province and Foshan Jinxi in Guangdong Province.