ArcelorMittal Ostrava is 'sold'

"Where you stand depends on where you sit," is a favorite line of some management consultants. Take ArcelorMittal as example of the wisdom of this. When the U.S. was considering tariffs on steel imports last summer, ArcelorMittal Ostrava said they would negatively affect the competitiveness of its seamless tubular products on the American market. A year earlier, CEO John Brett of ArcelorMittal USA had told the U.S. Commerce Dept. in a public hearing that his company welcomed the investigation into steel imports, because the current situation wasn't sustainable. Arcelor had different stances, depending on where it sat. Now apply this concept to the sale of ArcelorMittal Ostrava to Liberty House Group, approved yesterday by the EU Commission. The CEO of the Ostrava company before the divestiture process began was long-time Mittal manager Ashok Patil; the divestiture trustee approved by the EU Commission was also Ashok Patil. If Ashok Patil remains the CEO under the new owner, Ostravans will rightly wonder whether he didn't remain glued to Lakshmi Mittal's seat the whole time.