Companhia Siderurgica Nacional, a Brazilian-based company, proposed acquiring Corus Group for $9.8 billion, topping a bid made for the Anglo-Dutch firm by Indian-based Tata Steel made this past fall.
According to published reports, Tata is considering a counter offer for Corus Group. The company’s initial bid for Corus was slightly more than $8 billion. However, last month CSN indicated it was considering making a rival bid for the steel concern. This led Tata to increase its bid to $9.38 billion.
Corus, formed in 1999, was a merger between Dutch firm Koninklijke Hoogovens N.V., and British Steel. While on the one side it would give a bidder access to the European market, the downside is the company is more dependent on outside sources for its raw material, and has high production costs.
Both CSN and Tata Steel have access to ample iron ore for Corus, which could mitigate the iron ore dependency Corus has.