Brussels: Arcelor Mittal, the world''s largest steel maker, has hiked its offer for the shares it does not own in Brazilian subsidiary Arcelor Brasil.

Arcelor Mittal owns about 66 per cent stake in the unit would now offer 11.70 Brazilian reais ($5.75) in cash and 0.3568 class A common share of Arcelor Mittal for each share in Arcelor Brasil.

The floating reference price after adjustment for dividends and interest on cash would represent a total value, which as of April 4, 2007, would be equivalent to €18.89, or 51.27 reais said Arcelor Mittal in a statement.

The company said shareholders could receive the mixture of cash and shares proposed or purely cash, with the value based on the close of Mittal shares in New York on the business day prior to the auction date.

The company said the maximum amount it would pay in cash would be 10.9 billion reais ($5.35 billion) and the maximum number of shares it would issue would be some 76 million, representing 5 per cent of the share capital of Arcelor Mittal.