Every Indian must congratulate Ratan Tata for acquiring Corus biggest ever takeover of an overseas company by an Indian entity
After spending several sleepless nights overseeing the biggest ever takeover of an overseas
company by an Indian entity, Tata Sons chairperson Ratan Tata said Wednesday that the $11.3
billion bid to acquire Corus was a "moment of great fulfilment for India".
Like we have faced, Tatas would also have faced challenges. But with Corus, these challenges
will be overcome - the biggest challenge lies in how to integrate the two companies, how to
integrate cultures and work with new management.
There will be more challenges. Tata-Corus will be a successful acquisition," says LN Mittal, CEO, Arcelor Mittal.
Tata Corus is set to become the fifth largest producer of the commodity in the world," Ratan Tata told a videoconference with reporters from his office here, looking calm and collected despite hours of tension and excitement over finalisation of the mega-deal."This will prove be a visionary move," Tata said from his group's headquarters in Mumbai. "When we launched the bid, many thought it was an audacious move because an Indian company taking over an European company much larger in size had not happened before."
We are all very excited, delighted and happy. It's been a long-drawn affair of nine months. So we really happy," said group director Arun Gandhi. "Last three days have been very hard work. It's still going on."
The auction for the acquisition of Corus began at 4:30 p.m. GMT (10 p.m. India time), after close of trading hours at the London Stock Exchange (LSE), and the winner was announced by Britain's Takeover Panel, the watchdog for mergers and takeovers, early Wednesday.
Commerce Minister Kamal Nath Wednesday called the mega-deal struck by the Tatas to acquire Anglo-Dutch steel-maker Corus for some $12 billion as the coming of age of India Inc while industry leaders termed it a pioneering development.
"It's a reflection of India's economic strength," Kamal Nath said. "Indian firms are reaching out for consolidation and market access. This deal suggests more Indian companies will move ahead not just in steel but other areas also."
"This will prove to be a visionary move," said Ratan Tata, chairperson of Tata Sons, who had
earlier helped his group make two major acquisitions in the steel space over the past two years
worth $421 million - those of NatSteel of Singapore in February 2005 and Millennium Steel of
Thailand nine months later.
"When we launched the bid, many thought it was an audacious move because an Indian company taking over an European company much larger in size had not happened before."
Amit Mitra, secretary general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), said the deal was indeed "big bang" and signalled the events that will unfold as India
emerges the world's third largest economy.
"We must congratulate Ratan Tata for this feat. He has shown India's financial muscle power at a global benchmark and also on the tremendous negotiating skills against all odds," Mitra added.
posted by Rishil Babu @ 9:18 AM,
