This story is from February 1, 2007

Elated, at camp Tata

TNN / Feb 1, 2007, 01:40 IST

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One may have thought the 70-yr-old Ratan Tata would open his five-minute speech with praise for the group's trophy acquisition but the delivery was low key.

MUMBAI: The chandeliered ballroom at Mumbai's Taj Mahal hotel saw corporate history being made on Wednesday morning when chairman Ratan Tata and his A-team strode in to formally announce that Tata Steel was now the world's fifth-largest producer of steel.
Still heady from the eight-hour mega deal that had been clinched barely four hours ago, Tata, B Muthuraman, N Soonawala and Koushik Chatterjee were greeted with a round of cheers as senior managers from the group rushed forward to pump their hands.
One may have thought the 70-year-old Ratan Tata would open his five-minute speech with praise for the group's trophy acquisition, but typically enough, the delivery was low key.
"Tata Steel saw a strategic fit with Corus in the UK and the Netherlands, which will give it a global reach in Europe and synergies with low-cost intermediates in India,"he said.

Hailing the $12-million takeover as a "visionary move", Tata and Muthuraman, MD of Tata Steel fielded questions from the Mumbai, Delhi and Calcutta media.
Muthuraman, not as successful in masking his elation, explained how the acquisition would augment the group's steel-making capacity by 19 million tonne "immediately, unlike a greenfield site"which would take much longer and be more expensive.
Despite having been up all night, the aggressive MD showed no signs of fatigue, following the press-con with rounds of interviews, repeating statistics, clarifying queries and relishing every moment.

Present at the Taj to savour the memorable moment were the heads of the big Tata firms. Usually conservative, they let their hair down this time��embracing and congratulating one another and taking endless photos of Ratan Tata and Muthuraman as they addressed the press.
Ishaat Hussain, director Tata Sons and J J Irani, former managing director of Tata Steel, both of whom were witness to the negotiations and financial wrestling through the night, talked to the TV cameras till the action shifted to the dais.
Simone Tata, R Gopalakrishnan, R K Krishnakumar, Syamal Gupta (Tata Sons), Ravi Kant (Tata Motors), Kishor Chaukar (Tata Industries), Homi Khusrokhan (Tata Chemicals) were all there.
Absent, however, were Noel Tata, S Ramadorai of TCS, and Prasad Menon of Tata Power. T Mukherjee, deputy managing director of Tata Steel, had already left for Jamshedpur after the news of the deal was flashed.

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