The Daily Telegraph reports that Lakshmi Mittal is on a charm offensive to smooth the way for the group's audacious €18.6bn bid for rival Arcelor, which would give Mittal Steel an astonishing $69bn in annual sales - more than 4 times the revenues of its nearest competitor:

"Mittal Steel is holding talks with European governments before deciding whether to increase its audacious €18.6billion (£12.7billion) hostile bid for rival Arcelor, whose board yesterday rejected the offer unanimously."

"Mittal Steel chairman Lakshmi Mittal has said that by 2008, a merger would deliver $1billion of synergies

Lakshmi Mittal, the steel group's chairman and Britain's richest man, faces stiff political opposition after the governments of Luxembourg, Belgium and France voiced concerns over the weekend about any deal involving job cuts."

See : full story
See also: Arcelor plays anti-globalisation card