The UK press are enthralled by Cold Steel:

‘An enormously entertaining read’ Daily Express
 
‘Tim Bouquet and Byron Ousey have written an account of the takeover in the style of a thriller. Cold Steel describes the often brutal and chaotic five-month battle between Mittal and Arcelor. The combatants are described as though starring in a fictional work of industrial espionage’ Management Today
 
‘A rare, insider's account of lots of people making millions… the book reads like a thriller, with each side trying to rope in other steel companies on both sides of the Atlantic as allies… as this book shows, money and business logic prevailed in the end over politics and protection’ The Economist
 
‘A compelling tale… too few page-turning books are written on the high drama and low cunning of business and finance. Cold Steel is a welcome addition’ FT
 
‘The authors recount these events in the form of a thriller with fantastic changes of scene from one boardroom or luxury hotel to another as each side seeks to drum up support from investors. The result is a tumultuous narrative’ Sunday Telegraph

In the history of bitter global takeover battles none comes bigger or nastier than the dramatic bid by London-based multi-billionaire Lakshmi Mittal to take over Arcelor with its headquarters in Luxembourg. Mittal Steel was the number one maker of steel in the world, Arcelor close behind at number two. Mittal was out to become the biggest steel man the world has ever seen. His vision: to consolidate the industry into a few major players and take advantage of the booming markets of China, Brazil and India.

Arcelor was after the same prizes and out to stop Mittal at all costs. Cold Steel welcomes you aboard a vicious switchback fight that lasted five long months and was waged across nine countries from Europe to India and the USA with Arcelor’s brilliant but irascible chief executive Guy Dollé calling Mittal Steel a 'company of Indians' trying to buy his superior outfit with 'monkey money.' 

As allegations of racism and hypocrisy flew, both men assembled armies hundreds-strong of investment bankers, international lawyers, PR gurus, trouble-shooters and schmoozers whose task was to woo shareholders across the globe to their cause. Between them the advisers alone banked $300 million in fees.

Six billionaires brought their dollars and their bulging contacts books to the table swinging their allegiances this way then that. Presidents and prime ministers piled in to a chorus of dirty tricks while Russian Oligarchs, wheeled, dealed and took offence. And throughout it all the world’s hedge funds waited like jackals to see on which side they would make the biggest killing.

Meetings happened not only in boardrooms but also in some of the world’s best restaurants and hotels, the Elysee Palace and secret meetings at private airports. They often featured people who checked in under assumed names they way they do in the best thrillers.

Cold Steel is unique in bringing the reader a ringside seat on the inside of a takeover battle as it happened. Tim Bouquet and Byron Ousey conducted more than 70 in-depth face-to-face interviews with all the leading players on both sides. For them this fight was so big they called it a ‘destination deal’. They had to tell it like it was. At more than 25 billion Euros, there would not be another deal like it in their lifetimes.

Except with the restless Lakshmi Mittal you can never be so sure. Cold Steel also tells in detail for the first time the remarkable story of how a poor boy from a no-destination town in Rajasthan fought and manoeuvred his way to become the fourth richest man on the planet, worth £19 billion and rising, who resides in a £57 million mansion in London and welcomes heads of state to his dining table.