Shareholders in steel maker Arcelor rejected June 30 a merger deal with Russia's Severstal, clearing the way for an agreed takeover by the world's largest steel company Mittal Steel.
Alexei Mordashov said the Arcelor-Severstal merger did not come off for technical reasons.
"Business is business; our competitors offered more money for the stake. There was no reason for us to up the bid further," he said. "We are taking what has happened in our stride. Needless to say, we are not happy that it [the deal] failed to materialize. But we do not see this as a big tragedy and will certainly be thinking now about new options, new projects, and new horizons."
Arcelor's decision to merge with Mittal Steel instead of Russian steel maker Severstal had nothing to do with Russia's purported image as a closed country, President Putin said Wednesday.
The Severstal deal would have gone through if shareholders holding at least half of Arcelor's stock had voted for it. Now, the Luxembourg-based company will have to pay 140 million euros ($175 million) to the Russian company in compensation.
The vote was preceded by a bitter five-month takeover battle with Mittal, resulting in the London-based company raising its offer to 25.4 billion euros. Arcelor and Mittal will hold 50.6% and 49.4%, respectively, in what will be the world's largest steelmaking group.
Severstal offered to pay 13 billion euros for a 25% stake in Arcelor.
