Indian company flexes its buying power
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Indian company flexes its buying power
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SCOTT JAGOW: We keep talking about the blistering pace of business growth in China and India. Today, we have iron-clad proof of that. An Indian steel company has agreed to buy a European rival called Corus for $8 billion. This would be the biggest takeover ever by an Indian company. Kyle James has more.
KYLE JAMES: India’s Tata Group is a diversified and respected company in Asia. Now its steel division is moving onto the global stage.
Last year, Tata was the world’s 56th biggest steel producer. If this gets final shareholder approval, it’ll be No. 5.
Analyst Tom Muller points to Mittal Steel’s merger with Arcelor earlier this year.
That move produced a mega-company that is dwarfing its competitors. If they want to stay in the game, he says, they have to gang up too.
TOM MULLER: And when they want to be an international player offering their products to international companies like in the car industry, they have to decide to make alliances or merger or whatever because they need the scale and regional plants to compete with Mittal Arcelor.
But the ink on the Corus deal isn’t dry yet. Muller says other steel makers could decide to launch hostile bids for the company.
In Berlin, I’m Kyle James for Marketplace.
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