Arcelor Mittal reported to eye Russian metals company MMK

20 Dec, 2006 09:37 / Updated 17 years ago

Vedomosti newspaper has reported that Arcelor Mittal may be eyeing up Russia's leading metals company MMK. However Russian authorities might not approve the deal as Mittal earlier beat Severstal to merge with Arcelor.

Arcelor Mittal became the largest steel company in the world earlier this year. It has also purchased Ukrainian steelmaker Krivorozstahl.The paper reports that majority shareholder Lakshmi Mittal wants a controlling stake in MMK to expand in Russia.But the Vedomosti article suggests the Russian government may not approve any purchase, after Mittal beat Severstal to merge with Arcelor this year.Meanwhile analysts say it is too early to speak about a possible deal between Arcelor Mittal and MMK.