Mittal concedes Dillinger defeat

Lakshmi Mittal has conceded defeat in an 18-month effort to win control of a prized German steelmaker although he has come out of the fight with a $1bn  pay-off, the FT said. The Indian chairman and main shareholder of ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steelmaker, is expected to announce on Monday that he is no longer pursuing an attempt to take a controlling stake in Dillinger Hütte , a leading maker of specialised steel plate used in products such as transcontinental energy pipelines. Under an agreement hammered out with other shareholders in the company, ArcelorMittal will receive about $1bn for selling about 18 per cent of its existing stake in the company, bringing this to a level of about 33 per cent.