Indian company's bid of 608p per share is enough to beat Brazilian rival CSN in nail-biting auction
Tata Steel has come out top in the battle for UK steelmaker Corus after a three month battle that culminated in a gruelling 8-hour auction process.
India’s Tata triumphed with a bid of 608p per share which values Corus at £6.7bn including debt. The combined company will become the world’s fifth largest steelmaker by output.
The 8-hour auction began at 4.30pm on Tuesday and consisted of nine rounds of bidding. If the bidding rounds had not finished by 2.30am Wednesday the auction would have begun again at 4.30pm Wednesday.
The Takeover Panel set up the auction process to force the hand of Tata and its Brazilian rival CSN after the two began a bidding war for Corus in October. Tata kicked off the takeover battle with a 455p per share offer and before the auction process it had put the highest bid of 515p per share.
The battle for Corus reflects the high price of steel at the moment. Demand for steel in the both the UK and abroad is driving up prices. In the UK, the flourishing construction industry is fuelling demand while the booming economies in countries in such as India and China are soaking up supplies.
