London: A low-profile Arcelor executive took over leadership of Arcelor and Mittal Steel on Friday, saying his challenge was to forge a single company from the world's two largest steel makers.
The long-awaited announcement of new leadership named as chief financial officer Aditya Mittal, son of Mittal's founder, but froze out the old CEO of Arcelor who had opposed the deal.
"First thing we all have to do is to make sure we can present one face to the customer," said the new CEO, Roland Junck, 50, who was executive vice president of the Luxembourg-based Arcelor and is from the Grand Duchy.
Junck kept a relatively low profile during the takeover battle with Mittal, offering little comment to journalists about Arcelor's efforts to thwart Mittal's hostile bid.
The rough-and-tumble fight ended in late June and by last week Mittal Steel held 92 percent of the shares in Arcelor, though the two companies will not formally complete their merger for some time – possibly for up to a year.
"We had an amazing fight, but we have an amazing alignment," said Laksmi Mittal, the company founder, who will serve as co-chairman with Arcelor's chairman, Joseph Kinsch.
Junck recently led Arcelor's efforts to buy a 38 percent minority stake in China's Laiwu Steel, a region where the new group is keen to expand.
Growth regions
"China and India are our focus areas," Laksmi Mittal said on the sidelines of the London news conference.
The four other members of the management board are Arcelor's Deputy Chief Executive Michel Wurth, Arcelor Chief Financial Officer Gonzalo Urquijo, Mittal's Chief Operating Officer Malay Mukherjee and Mittal Steel South Africa Chief Executive Davinder Chugh.
Wurth, who was also seen as a possible leader of the new group, played a more visible role in the hostile bid saga. He chaired the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, which unsuccessfully tried to push through new takeover rules with the potential to torpedo the deal.
Wurth became less vocal in his opposition to Mittal's bid as the prospects grew of a friendly deal between the two rivals, leaving the opposition role to Arcelor's CEO Guy Dolle, who said the deal carried too many risks.
Dolle "will not have any executive role. He has offered his services wherever he is required by us.
There is no fixed role," Lakshmi Mittal said. Mittal also said he was optimistic about the prospects of the new group.
"Steel demand will continue to be strong. The concern, which everyone has are the exports from China, but my point is that the Chinese are not low-cost producers. At these prices they cannot make profits," he said.
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