The board of directors of Corus Group Plc which met in London today has decided to recommend the final offer of 608 pence per share from Tata Steel to its shareholders. The company would now seek court approval and subsequently the consent from its shareholders. The date for the shareholders meeting has not been announced.

"The Corus Directors, who have been so advised by Credit Suisse (as lead financial adviser), JPMorgan Cazenove and HSBC, consider the terms of the Final Tata Offer to be fair and reasonable, so far as Corus Shareholders are concerned. Given that the price of the Final Tata Offer is five pence above that of the Final CSN Offer, the Corus Directors believe that the Final Tata Offer represents the best value for Corus Shareholders and intend to recommend unanimously that Corus Shareholders vote in favour of the scheme of arrangement to implement the Final Tata Offer at the court meeting and extraordinary general meeting that the board now intends to reconvene", Corus said in a statement issued after the board meeting.

"The final offer of 608 pence from Tata is the culmination of a thorough process conducted by my Board to secure both the best value for shareholders and the right strategic future for Corus. Tata and Corus are stronger together and will be able to compete effectively in an increasingly global environment. This combination creates a strong and robust platform for growth that will benefit all stakeholders", Jim Leng, Corus Group chairman said.

Tata Steel''s offer is subject to the condition of minimum acceptance by at least 75 per cent of Corus shareholders, bit the company reserves the right to lower this limit. Once the final offer receives shareholders'' approval, the formal offer letters to individual shareholders are expected to be sent out by mid-March. Tata Steel''s offer for Corus had earlier received anti-trust approvals in Europe and the US and no further regulatory hurdles are anticipated.