Kochi: Itââ¬â¢s a classic case of the hunter becoming the hunted. Amidst news that Brazilââ¬â¢s biggest steel-maker Companhia Siderurgica Nacional or CSN may rival Tata Steelââ¬â¢s bid to buy the UKââ¬â¢s Corus, itââ¬â¢s learnt that a Tata-Corus combine may make an offer to acquire the Latin American steel giant. If a straight acquisition does not work out, the special purpose vehicle created to buy Corus may try a share-swap arrangement with the NYSE-listed CSN with annual revenues of about $1.72 billion.
Believed to be initiated by lenders such as Standard Chartered Bank, who are advising Tata Steel on its friendly acquisition of Corus, a deal with CSN would add 5.8 million tonnes of steelmaking capacity to Tata-Corusââ¬â¢ 23 million tonnes per annum. It would, more importantly, give the group access to some of the cheapest and largest iron ore mines in Brazil that could offset Corusââ¬â¢ high cost of raw materials. Tata Steelââ¬â¢s stock of a billion tonnes of ore is insufficient to feed its domestic and international operations (Corus, Natsteel of Singapore and Thai Millennium) in the long run.
Tata group officials, when contacted, declined to comment. However, sources familiar with the development say the plan is being explored. Corusââ¬â¢ bankers, who hold about 35% of the shares in the UK company, are financing the Tatasââ¬â¢ acquisition. They are also willing to back them in a bid for CSN. The Tatas, however, are said to have put a rider.
The group does not want to make a hostile bid and has indicated the acquisition should be a happy marriage like the Corus deal, in cash or through a share swap.
The bankers have several reasons to help Tata Steel buy CSN. The main reason is that CSN owns the worldââ¬â¢s largest iron ore mines. CSN and a few other companies together have a 42% stake in Companhia Vale Do Rio Doce (CVRD), the largest global producer and supplier of iron ore and pellets. It directly owns 16.3% in CVRD. It also owns a major gold mine in Brazil.
The availability of cheap ore is the main reason why steel giants such as theSouth Korean Posco and UKââ¬â¢s Mittal Steel are making a beeline for the mineral rich states of Orissa and Jharkhand. They plan to ship lowcost primary steel to be processed further at their overseas high-cost units located close to their consumers in the construction and automobile industries.
STRATEGIC MOVE
NYSE-listed CSN of Brazil has annual revenues of $1.72 billion It will add 5.3 million tonnes to Tata-Corusââ¬â¢ 23 mt capacity CSN owns the worldââ¬â¢s largest iron ore mines. These will provide Tatas a cheap supply of raw material to offset the high costs incurred by Corus Combine can also use CSNââ¬â¢s Heartland steel mill in US It will also give Tata-Corus direct entry into Portugal
Corus, CSN have longstanding ties
Kochi: The Tata Steel-Corus combineââ¬â¢s bid to acquire Brazil steel giant Companhia Siderurgica Nacional or CSN may become easier as Corus and CSN have a longstanding relationship, with the two having unsuccessfully explored the possibility of a merger in 2002.
Four years later, Corus sold its interest in Lusosiderin, a galvanised steel unit, a JV with CSN, to the Brazilian company. Although CSN and Tata Steel have similar production capacities, the Brazilian firm has just 8,000 employees compared to the Indian companyââ¬â¢s workforce of 38,000. The Tata-Corus combine can also utilise CSNââ¬â¢s Heartland steel mill (acquired in 2001) in the US to supply high-grade steel to customers there.Buying CSN would also give it direct entry into Portugal with value-added steel products like galvanised steel used in construction and housing.