PARIS, May 18: Mittal Steel launched its controversial takeover bid for the European group Arcelor on Thursday, giving Arcelor investors a chance to judge the proposal after a four-month standoff between the companies.

The offer is to run until June 29, during which time Arcelor shareholders have the opportunity to sell their shares if they back Mittal’s plan to create the world’s biggest steel maker.

“We have always said that it is the shareholders who should decide on this transaction and we are pleased that now that the offer is open they will have ability to do so,” said the chairman and chief executive of Mittal Steel, Lakshmi Mittal.

The bid, worth about 19.2 billion euros, has gone ahead despite vociferous opposition from the management of Arcelor, led by chief executive Guy Dolle repeatedly advised shareholders to reject the deal.

Shares in Arcelor fell sharply on the Paris stock exchange, closing 2.59 per cent lower at 32.0 euros in market that lost 0.24 per cent overall, while shares in Mittal Steel fell 2.39 per cent to 27.33 euros in Amsterdam.

Dealers said that the price of shares in both companies had risen sharply since the start of the year and the fall on Thursday, mainly because of profit-taking.

Due to the listing of Arcelor shares on a number of European stock exchanges, the offer was launched in France, Belgium and Luxembourg and is to begin “shortly” in Spain and in the US.

Announcing the launch, Mittal Steel said that it continued to believe that the offer was “a very attractive one, structured to enable Arcelor shareholders to participate in the exciting growth potential of the combined company, whilst also receiving a generous cash element”.—AFP