Arcelor: Huffing and bluffing

The French emperor may finally have been shown not to be wearing clothes. Mittal Steel E19bn hostile bid for Arcelor, the quasi-French steel champion, may reveal how little power the French state has to protect national champions. Until now, the French establishment has been effective at deterring foreign bids for national treasures. Switzerland’s Novartis was scared off from Aventis, the Franco-German pharmaceutical producer, in 2004. Instead, Sanofi, a French group, took it over. Pepsi was wa...