Congratulations to Ratan Tata and all in Tata Steel

Whenever the history of Corporate India’s coming of age is written, Tata Steel’s acquisition of Corus will figure as a landmark event. Acquisition was a matter of pride. Tata will pay $12.15 billion (around Rs 55,000 crore) in cash for the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker, making it the largest acquisition by an Indian company and the second largest in the industry after Mittal Steel’s $38.3 billion acquisition of Arcelor.The acquisition makes Tata Steel the world’s fifth largest steelmaker, adding 19 million tonnes of steel-making capacity.

Surprisingly, the stock market, amid fears that Tata Steel may have overpaid, beat the stock down 11 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The global rating agency Standard & Poor’s today put its BBB long-term corporate credit rating on credit watch with negative implications. CSN gained 6.2 per cent in Sao Paulo and Corus climbed 7 per cent in London. Ratan Tata, chairman, Tata Steel, said: “The market is taking a short-term view and a harsh view… Hopefully, it will look back and say the acquisition was the right move.”

And the people who make it happen, the dream team that backed Ratan