Tata Acquires Corus: A case Study

January 31, 2007, added a shining feather in the cap of corporate Tata Steel which was celebrating its centenary year 2006-07. This day Tata Steel acquired the ninth largest steel producer of the world Corus in an all cash deal of $12.15 billion (around Rs. 55,000 crore) and catapulted itself from the 56th largest steel producer in the world to 6th largest steel producer in the world. It became the largest acquisition by an Indian company and the second largest in the industry after Mittal Steel’s $38.3 billion acquisition of Arcelor. By offering 608 pence per share (pps), which beat a price of Brazilian company Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) of 603 pps, was 33.6% higher than its original bid. By some measures, it exceeded the price paid in other recent industry deals, such as Mittal Steel’s acquisition of Arcelor last year. In its centenary year of 2007, Tata Steel, a subsidiary of Tata Group - India’s largest private sector company, was aiming to touch the production figure of 7 million tonnes but the acquisition would bring the total capacity of the group to around 23 million tonnes, making it the sixth largest steel producer in the world.