French Prime Minister Dominique Devillepin has called on the country's companies to reorganise their capital to better resist "attacks" such as the hostile takeover bid by Mittal steel for Arcelor. "Economic patriotism is the mobilisation of all the participants, of all those concerned, the shareholders but also the company bosses," he told France 2 television.

"Think about the structure of your capital, it should be sufficiently organised to resist attacks," he said, addressing company directors and adding that "the state can help in this movement."

The French government, in response to past big industrial merger-takeover situations involving French interests in Europe, has argued in favour of creating European "champions" with a clearly defined European industrial logic.

Villepin's comments came as European resistance mounted to the bid by Mittal to seize control of Arcelor, a steel group that is one of the continent's cherished industrial champions.

The governments of France, Spain and Luxembourg have lined up with the European metalworkers federation to question the $22.7 billion bid launched last Friday for the world's second biggest steel group by the world's largest producer.

( www.financialexpress.com)