January 31, 2006	Tuesday	Muharram 1, 1427

PARIS, Jan 30: Steelmaker Arcelor came out fighting on Monday against a hostile takeover bid by global giant Mittal Steel as European governments voiced deep concern about future of the continent’s steel industry.

“Arcelor will not share its future with Mittal Steel,” said the European steelmaker’s chief executive Guy Dolle, describing the 18.6-billion-euro ($22.7bn) bid as “opaque, destructive of value and threatening for employees.”

Mittal Steel chairman Lakshmi Mittal meanwhile launched a charm offensive in France, insisting that the two groups were complementary and that “if European jobs had to be protected in future, the bid is a good way of doing so.”

The bid launched on Friday in London for what is currently the second largest steel group would result in the biggest merger ever seen in the steel industry and by far the biggest steel producer in the world.—AFP