Word: mittal
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...ever more widely distributed. Though the Industrial Revolution's crucible 200 years ago was the Atlantic world, there has always been economic activity and wealth elsewhere. Now, investors and entrepreneurs from anywhere can hazard their skills and fortunes wheresoever they choose. Colette Neuville, a French shareholder activist, says of Mittal's bid: "It was a shock to discover that there are companies in places we used to refer to as the Third World that have become equal partners, or more than equal partners. Nobody had quite imagined that...
...didn't become one of the world's richest men, and by far its biggest steel baron, by shying away from controversy. Even so, the Indian-born businessman Lakshmi Mittal says he was taken aback by the fury that greeted his announcement in late January that he was bidding to buy European steelmaker Arcelor, formed in 2002 out of what was left of the French, Luxembourgian, Belgian and Spanish steel industries. "We really didn't expect such a violent reaction," Mittal told Time. "A lot of people were obviously not happy at all." [an error occurred while processing this directive...
...attacks of a distinctly ugly nature. In Luxembourg, where Arcelor is based, Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker called for "a reaction that is at least as hostile" as the bid, and parliament considered a new merger law that would block the deal. In Paris, Finance Minister Thierry Breton lambasted Mittal's decision to make an unsolicited bid, accusing him of having "a grammar problem," while President Jacques Chirac searched for ways to stop the takeover. One former French Prime Minister, Michel Rocard, wrote an angry screed entitled "Europe Should Say No," that advocated the introduction of a blanket...
Perhaps predictably, the takeover battle was long-drawn- out. Mittal had to up his offer to shareholders twice, raising the value of the deal by more than 40% to an eye-popping $33.4 billion, and he changed the ownership structure of the firm to reduce his family's dominant stake. But in late July, almost six months after his initial foray, Mittal had his prize. He admits that the personal attacks were wounding. Yet ultimately they came to naught: through sheer obstinacy and financial savvy, Mittal, 56, overcame every sort of political, personal and financial objection to forge a global...
...from that battle has died down, but its significance continues to resound. For, by taking on the European political and business élite - and winning - Mittal demonstrated in a stunningly audacious way just how much the world has changed. Here was an upstart intruder from a country long classed as part of the developing world, scooping up a European gem that Dollé at one point (though perhaps unwisely, given later history) described as the Airbus of steel. And Mittal, assuredly, is but the first of many. Indians, Brazilians, Chinese, Russians and other entrepreneurs from emerging economies are now jostling...