Tata Steel Inks Deal to Acquire Steel Company

Tata Steel Ltd. has signed a definitive agreements with Cementhai Holding Company - a wholly owned subsidiary of the Siam Cement Co., Thailand to acquire its shares and invest additional equity in Millennium Steel Company subject to certain conditions.

Under the terms of the agreement, Cementhai Holding, with a 40 percent equity stake in Millennium, have committed to sell their shares into a voluntary tender offer that Tata Steel will make for all of the equity and preference shares of Millennium Steel subject to certain conditions precedent.

Millennium Steel was formed through a merger of three operating companies – The Siam Iron and Steel Co., The Siam Construction Steel Co., and NTS Steel Group – in 2002 and is now the dominant steel producer in Thailand.

The three operating units of the company have a cumulative capacity to produce 1.2 million tons of steel a year through the electric arc furnace route and a long products rolling capacity of 1.7 million tons a year.