On 15 April 2008 the Official Journal of the European Union has published the Commission repection of a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation 139/2004 by which the undertaking and Gonvarri (Spain) and Arcelor Mittal (Luxembourg) acquire joint control of Gonvarri Brasil Produtos Siderúrgicos SA (‘SSC Brazil’, Brazil) by way of purchase of shares.

Preliminary examination of European Commission services finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 139/2004. However. Interested third parties can submit their possible observations on the proposed operation not later that 25 April 2008 (ten days after publication in OJ) to the Commission:

European Commission - DG Competition
COMP/M.5120
Merger Registry - J-70
B-1049 Brussels (Belgium)

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

• Arcelor Mittal (NYSE:MT)  is the world's number one steel company, with 310,000 employees in more than 60 countries. It has led the consolidation of the world steel industry and today ranks as the only truly global steelmaker. ArcelorMittal is the leader in all major global markets, including automotive, construction, household appliances and packaging. The Group leads in R&D and technology, holds sizeable captive supplies of raw materials and operates extensive distribution networks. ArcelorMittal key financials for 2007 show revenues of US$ 105.2 billion, with a crude steel production of 116 million tonnes, representing around 10% of world steel output.

• Gonvarri is currently the European leader in Steel Service Centres and is growing in Latin America. Gestamp Automoción leads, for its part, the automotive stamping sector in Europe. The workforce of the Group comprises 2,141 workers. 1480 meuro in 2005.
• SSC Brazil is made up of two plants, one in Campinas (São Paulo) and another in Curitiba (Paraná). From a logistics point of view, they are ideally located to attend to the Brazilian market. It Process nearly half a million tonnes and grounded in values of commitment. It belongs to the Gonvarri industrial group.