Arcelor Mittal gets approval from Brazilian regulators
Brussels: Mittal Steel Co NV received approval from Brazilian regulators for its higher offer for Arcelor SA's Latin American steel units.

Brazil's Securities and Exchange Commission cleared the mandatory offer to buy out Arcelor Brasil SA's remaining shareholders and cancel it as a public company, Mittal said. The approval adds nearly $5.43 billion to the cost of the companies' deal to become the world's largest steelmaker.

The steelmaker said it would publish the offer by April 27 and it would be open for between 30 to 45 calendar days.

Brazilian market regulators earlier ordered Mittal to make another bid on the same terms as the offer for shares in the Luxembourg-based parent company, telling it a previous offer of up to $3.26 billion was too low.

Under the terms of the new offer, Arcelor Brasil shareholders can choose between a combination of cash and shares or all cash. Their stakes can be swapped for shares in the new company Arcelor Mittal plus 11.7 Brazilian reals ($5.77) in cash or that same amount of cash plus the cash value of Mittal shares.

The company said it would pay out a maximum of 10.9 billion Brazilian reals ($5.37 billion) and 76 million Arcelor Mittal shares -- 5 per cent of the company's capital on a fully diluted basis.
Back to News Review index page  

Hewlett-Packard stays ahead of Dell in PC sales
San Francisco: Hewlett-Packard Co continues to stay ahead of Dell Inc in personal-computer sals in the first quarter of the year, globally according to market researcher IDC.

Overall, growth of personal computer shipments was more than 10 per cent for the first time in a year, due to strong demand for laptop computers, IDC said.

HP's global market share rose to 19.1 per cent from 16.5 per cent from the same period a year earlier, while Dell's share slipped 3 percentage points to 15.2 per cent IDC said in its quarterly survey of personal computer sales.

HP shipped 28.2 per cent more PCs than a year earlier, while Dell's shipments fell 6.9 per cent, IDC said.

Dell's market-share is mainly due to its own restructuring following slowing sales and adverse publicity from a recall of Sony Corp battery cells in its laptop computers last year according to the market research organization.

Dell last year lost its No. 1 PC market share ranking for the first time since 2003 as a resurgent HP sold more computers in retail stores. Dell only sells directly to customers via the phone or its Web site.
Back to News Review index page  

Nasdaq profit rise marginally
New York: Nasdaq said its first-quarter profit rose slightly as a one-time charge related to its failed takeover bid for London Stock Exchange Group Plc ate into revenues. The largest U.S. electronic stock market reported net income of $18.3 million, or 14 cents a share, compared with $18 million, or 16 cents a share, a year earlier. Nasdaq said it earned $41.8 million, or 29 cents a share, up from $26.2 million, or 22 cents, in the year-earlier period.
Back to News Review index page