Anglo-Dutch steel firm Corus has accepted a revised £4.7bn ($9.2bn) takeover offer from leading Indian rival Tata Steel.
Brazilian steelmaker CSN says it has agreed to buy Anglo-Dutch Corus for £4.9bn ($9.6bn), beating an offer from India's Tata Steel made hours earlier.
The offer is seen as a means of staving off any rival move from Brazil's Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN), and values Corus at 500 pence a share.
Companhia Siderurgica Nacional has agreed to pay 515 pence a share per Corus share, trumping Tata Steel's offer of 500 pence a share.
A Tata-Corus merger would create the world's fifth-biggest steel firm.
A Corus spokesman said the board was recommending that shareholders now accept the CSN offer.
Corus employs 47,300 people worldwide, including 24,000 in the UK at plants at Port Talbot, Scunthorpe and Rotherham.
Tata said it was now considering its position after the latest developments.
The firm was formed out of the 1999 merger of British Steel and Dutch group Hoogovens.
Late on Sunday night Corus had earlier accepted a revised £4.7bn ($9.2bn) takeover offer from Tata Steel.
In a joint statement, the boards of Tata Steel and Corus said they "are pleased to announce that they have agreed to terms of an offer at 500p [per share] for Corus shareholders".
The offer had valued Corus at 500 pence a share, and a merger would have created the world's fifth-biggest steel firm.
'Substantial value'
Tata had earlier made an informal £4.1bn bid for Corus, which had then been trumped by steel group CSN going to the Anglo-Dutch firm with a £4.3bn takeover proposal.
Corus chairman Jim Leng said the new, improved, Tata offer of £4.7bn was a "substantial increase" on the previous approach.
"Accordingly, the Corus board are pleased to recommend this to Corus shareholders," he said in a statement.
And Tata Steel chairman Ratan Tata was quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying that they were convinced of the strategic alliance and "the revised terms of offer adds substantial value to Corus shareholders".
Tata has pledged to pay £126m into the Corus pension fund as part of the deal, and will increase the annual contributions to the British Steel fund.
It added it did not plan to relocate any Corus plants, but Tata said job cuts could not be ruled out in the long-term.
After announcing the proposal to the Mumbai stock exchange on Monday morning, Tata saw its shares fall by 4.5% to 460.50 rupees.
Changing of the guard
In 2005, Tata Steel was the world's 56th biggest steel producer. Its takeover of Corus represents its first expansion outside of Asia.
Tata chairman Ratan Tata has said the takeover would be a "defining moment" for the firm.
GLOBAL STEEL PRODUCTION 2005 1. Mittal Steel - 49.89 million tonnes2. Arcelor- 46.653. Nippon Steel - 32.914. Posco - 31.425. JFE Steel - 29.576. Shanghai Baosteel - 22.737. US Steel - 19.268. Nucor - 18.459. Corus - 18.1810. Riva - 17.5356. Tata - 4.4 Source: Metal Bulletin Corus share price
GLOBAL STEEL PRODUCTION 2005 1. Mittal Steel - 49.89 million tonnes2. Arcelor- 46.653. Nippon Steel - 32.914. Posco - 31.425. JFE Steel - 29.576. Shanghai Baosteel - 22.737. US Steel - 19.268. Nucor - 18.459. Corus - 18.1810. Riva - 17.5356. Tata - 4.4 Source: Metal Bulletin Corus share price
Analysts have broadly welcomed the deal, but warned that there were risks.
Corus employs 47,300 people worldwide, including 24,000 in the UK at plants at Port Talbot, Scunthorpe and Rotherham.
The biggest one is said to be that if there is an economic downturn over the coming years, Tata Steel might have difficulty paying off the £1bn of debt it is taking on to buy Corus.
It was formed out of the 1999 merger of British Steel and Dutch group Hoogovens.
In those circumstances there might be dangers for Corus' pension fund, which has 166,000 members in the UK.
Earlier in the autumn Tata had made an informal £4.1bn bid for Corus, which had then been trumped by steel group CSN going to the Anglo-Dutch firm with a £4.3bn takeover proposal.
The takeover comes amid growing consolidation in the global steel industry.
Tata chairman Ratan Tata had said any takeover would have been a "defining moment" for the firm.
The battle for Corus comes amid growing consolidation in the global steel industry.
With prices and demand soaring, Mittal Steel - the world's largest steel firm - bought European rival Arcelor for $34bn earlier this year.
With prices and demand soaring, Mittal Steel - the world's largest steel firm - bought European rival Arcelor for $34bn earlier this year.
Tata Steel is part of the wider Tata group, which has business interests ranging from carmaking to Tetley's tea.
