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Kumba Iron Ore/ArcelorMittal SA standoff
At noon on February 26, from a temporarily set up “war room”, ArcelorMittal SA’s executive team were making frantic phone calls to directors, preparing them for the trading halt in the company’s shares on the JSE.
They had just two hours to do this. Earlier, around 11am, ArcelorMittal SA CEO Nkululeko Nyembezi-Heita and her executive team went to the JSE seeking advice on Kumba’s plans to cancel a 2001 price accord that allowed the steel giant to purchase 65% of its iron ore at cost plus 3%. The JSE wanted to suspend the shares immediately, but Nyembezi-Heita and her team asked for more time.
