Brazilian steel group Companhia Siderurgica Nacional trumps Tata’s offer of £4.1bn

Brazil steel giant CSN has made a £4.3bn bid for rival Corus, valuing each Corus share at 475p.

The bid on Friday trumps an existing bid of £4.1bn from Tata Steel. The Tata bid had been accepted by the Corus board, but had not yet been approved by shareholders who were due to vote on the offer on December 4.

Corus confirmed on Friday that it had received an approach from CSN and said it would make an announcement in due course.

CSN chairman and chief executive Benjamin Steinbruch said: “A combination of CSN and Corus would create a global powerhouse with market leading positions and exceptional distribution networks across both developed and emerging markets.”

The Brazilian group said that a takeover would give Corus access to a supply of high-quality, low-cost iron ore from CSN's Casa de Pedra mine.

Four years ago Corus made a £2.7bn bid for CSN in an attempt to merge but the deal broke down.

CSN said that financing for the proposed deal came from Barclays Bank, Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas.