The Stel Salaried Pensioners Organization wishes to thank The Hamilton Spectator for permission to post the following article published in the September 6, 2007 edition
The Associated Press
BRUSSELS, Belgium (Sep 6, 2007)
ArcelorMittal, the world's largest
steelmaker, said yesterday it will exercise its right to buy out the other
owners of Canada's Wabush Mines, jilting an earlier deal they struck with
Canadian miner Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines.
ArcelorMittal owns 28.6 per cent of Wabush,
acquired when it bought Hamilton-based steel producer Dofasco Inc. last year.
The mine extracts iron ore in northeastern Canada.
"This will bring ArcelorMittal closer
to its stated objective of 75 per cent iron ore self-sufficiency," said
ArcelorMittal's head of mining, Malay Mukherjee.
The Luxembourg-based steelmaker said it will
pay around $67 million US in cash and take on certain liabilities to buy out
Wabush's other owners: Stelco Inc.'s 44.6 per cent and Cleveland Cliffs' 26.8
per cent stake.
The two agreed in June to sell their stakes
to Thompson for $64.3 million US plus three million shares.
But ArcelorMittal, as a co-owner, had a
prior right to buy them out, which it has now exercised on similar terms as
those agreed with Thompson.
Toronto-based Consolidated Thompson said
last Friday it would no longer purchase majority interest in the Wabush Mines
venture because Dofasco was opposing the move.
"The recently announced (takeover)
transaction between Stelco and U.S. Steel and the decision by Dofasco/Mittal to
exercise its right to acquire Wabush suggest that both consolidation in the
iron ore and steel industry and the demand for iron ore continues be
strong," stated chairman Bruce Humphrey.