ArcelorMittal appoints directors ahead of steel div spin-off

Ahead of the likely spin-off of its stainless steel business tomorrow to a newly-created company Aperam, world's largest steel maker ArcelorMittal has appointed two new directors on the board of the new firm.

"ArcelorMittal as sole shareholder of Aperam appointed two new independent members to the Board of Directors for Aperam, the new company to which ArcelorMittal's stainless and specialty steels business is expected to be spun off on January 25," the Luxembourg-headquartered company said.

The new members of Aperam's Board of Directors are -- Sylvie Ouziel, Chief Operating Officer of Accenture Management Consulting and Romain Bausch, President and CEO of SES, a leading telecommunications satellite operator.

The appointments will be subject to shareholders' nod  as per a general meeting, the company said in a statement.

On dividend policy, the general meeting decided that $0.75 per share dividend will be applicable after the spin-off.

"Payment of the dividend in 2011 is expected to occur on a quarterly basis, with the first dividend payment of $0.1875 to be paid on or about March 31, 2011," it said.

A share repurchase authorisation would become effective for Aperam after the spin-off and would be structured similarly to ArcelorMittal's share repurchase authorisation.

Earlier last month, the firm had announced to spin-off its stainless division to unlock value for shareholders.

Under the plan, the company decided to allot its share holders a scrip in the stainless steel unit for every existing 20 shares in the first quarter of 2011.

Last year company Chairman and CEO Lakshmi Mittal had said that the group was confident of the future of stainless business and believed creation of a separately focused company will create additional value for shareholders.

The business employs around 11,000 people, about 4 per cent of ArcelorMittal's total workforce.

The widely expected spin-off is likely to result in a non-cash impairment charge of about USD 800 million, while the business unit will have a net debt of about $1 billion.

It will comprise a combination of existing ArcelorMittal debt that will be transferred besides new loan raised by this business, the company had said adding, it plans to list the stainless steel shares on Euronext Paris, Amsterdam and in Luxembourg. In the United States, they will trade on over-the-counter market in the form of NY Registry Shares.

The Stainless Steel division's 2009 sales were reported at $4.2 billion. In September, the company had appointed Group's head for Human Resources Bernard Fontana as Chief Executive of its stainless division.

The global steel major, which is focusing on expanding mining operations has presence in more than 60 countries and accounts for over 70 million tonnes of crude steel production, representing about 8 per cent of world steel output.