It was a takeover the Tatas were getting ready for ever since group chairman Ratan Tata made his intention clear to go global. So when the Tatas announced the $8.1 billion takeover of Anglo-Dutch steel company Corus, the mood was celebratory both at Bombay House —the Tata group HQ — and in India Inc. With a nod from the Corus board, the stage was set for a shareholders meeting on December 4 to clear the takeover. Many institutional shareholders who held big stakes in Corus even started selling its shares in the market at a higher price than the Tata offer of 455 pence, thinking a counter offer was not forthcoming.

Few thought Sao Polo-based steel company Companhia Siderurgica Nacional would up the offer by announce 20 pence a share to Corus group shareholders just before the London Stock Exchange closed for the weekend, on Friday.

CSN now seeks a similar recommendation from the Corus board for its offer as the latter gave to the Tata offer. NYSE-listed CSN — with operations in Brazil, the US and Portugal — says it has more strategic and industrial logic for a merger with Corus as it would enable Corus to secure supply of high quality, low cost iron ore from its Casa de Pedra mine, one of the largest captive mines in the world.

“A combination of CSN and Corus would create a global powerhouse with market leading positions and exceptional distribution networks across both developed and emerging markets,” says Benjamin Steinbruch, chairman and CEO of CSN.

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