severstal/arcelor: The Zaleski loophole

Alexey Mordashov improved his merger proposal for Arcelor earlier in the week. But, as so often, the devil is in the details. In this case, the fine print creates a loophole which would allow the boss of Severstal to cut a sweetheart deal with another big Arcelor shareholder, short-changing other investors. Now, it is quite possible that Mordashov’s deal will sink. After all, Arcelor is in talks with rival Mittal Steel about improving its offer. That said, Mordashov may be prevailed upon to i...