India's Tata Steel has completed its $11.3 billion acquisition of European steel maker Corus Group, a takeover that makes the Indian company the world's fifth-largest steel producer.
The company has retained the top management of Corus, who will work with Tata officials to integrate operations of the two companies, Tata Steel said in a statement late Monday.
Tata Steel was the winner of a January auction for Corus that was overseen by Britain's takeover regulator. The Indian company's 608 pence ($11.74) per share bid edged out a final bid of 603 pence ($11.64) per share from Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Siderurgica Nacional, or CSN.
It was biggest ever acquisition by an Indian company.
Last month, Corus shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favor of the deal.
Tata Steel is part of the Tata Group, a sprawling conglomerate with interests spanning almost everything from salt to software.
The Tata-Corus combine will have the capacity to produce 27 million tons of steel in 2007 and employ 84,000 employees across 45 countries, the statement said.
"Together we are a well balanced company, strategically well placed to compete at the leading edge of a rapidly changing global steel industry," the statement quoted Group Chairman Ratan Tata as saying.