Steel giants finally wrap up courtship

Wednesday's Arcelor shareholders meeting saw a vote to merge with Mittal Steel. In 2004, Mittal took over Polish Steelworks (PHS), which consisted of the Sędzimir, Katowice, Cedler and Florian Steelworks. Soon it is going to take over Warsaw Steelworks (now in Arcelor's hands) and the Kama steel production plant near Wrocław. A few months ago the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) appealed to the European Commission (EC) to thoroughly investigate the outcome in Poland after the possible merger. When the EC decided in June this year that Mittal and Arcelor could merge, provided the former sold the Huta Bankowa steelworks (owned by PHS) in Poland, UOKiK was satisfied. Soon, however, the entire Polish steel market will be controlled by one monopolistic enterprise with a 10% world market share. (Puls Biznesu, p.11) J.L.