Mergers, Acquisitions, Alliances and Synergies Case Study

Case Title:

Mittal Steel-Building the Steel Giant

Abstract:

In the era of concentration of power in few hands, consolidation in old industries has gained momentum. The case study is about building a global empire through the strategy of turning around sick units.

Lakshmi Niwas Mittal (LNM) with his vision of consolidation of steel industry banked on geographical reach and product line expansion for success in the 21st century. It also highlights the core competence of identifying the right plants for acquisition and investing the right amount of money and people in it and turning them into profitable ventures.

LNM went into vertical integration to have cost advantage. The case discusses LNM’s major acquisitions which were considered the riskiest rust buckets by the industry experts, one of them being in Kazakhstan, which is located 400 Kilometers away from now steel hungry China. With the creation of world’s largest steel company, Mittal Steel, only 23% of the global production is dominated by handful of steelmakers, providing scope for more acquisitions and consolidati on to follow.

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To understand the core competency of Laxmi Mittal in acquiring and turning around the sick steel units
• To analyse the string of acquisitions undertaken by LNM and the vision to consolidate the steel industry
• To debate whether this strategy of acquisitions have been a successful strategy for Mittal Steel.

Keywords :  Business Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Strategic Management; Consolidation; Mergers,Acquisitions,Alliances Case Study; Core Competence