CHICAGO, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mittal Steel has chosen Chicago's Loop for its U.S. headquarters. Along with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, the company today announced that it has selected a new downtown high- rise, the One South Dearborn building, for the executive offices of Mittal Steel USA. The announcement concludes an exhaustive site search on both sides of the Illinois-Indiana line. Mittal Steel expects to occupy its new quarters in January, bringing together members of a management team who have been based in Northwest Indiana, in Ohio and elsewhere. Mittal Steel USA has signed a lease for 53,484 square feet in the 40-story tower at the southeast corner of Madison and Dearborn streets, which is due for completion in December. Hines Interests LP, the developer, said Mittal takes the project pre- leasing level to 90 percent in the 820,000-square-foot office high-rise. "Mittal Steel is the largest and most global steel company in the world, so that it is very fitting for us to locate our domestic headquarters in one of America's truly world-class cities," said Louis L. Schorsch, chief executive officer of Mittal Steel USA. "We were very impressed with the commitment and support provided by the mayor and the governor, and we look forward to building on that foundation for the future." Schorsch also commented on other locations that had been considered: "Indiana and the communities of its northwest corner made earnest, attractive proposals to locate our headquarters in the area where our largest plants are situated and where we have 10,000 employees. We are grateful for their efforts and will place some technical and office functions in Northwest Indiana, including what we expect to become the most prestigious steel research center in the country." "It is only logical that a world-class corporation would want to locate its U.S. headquarters in a world-class city," said Blagojevich. "By being pro-active and ensuring that businesses have all the tools they need to compete and thrive, we're creating an extremely attractive business climate that is continuing to lure internationally successful companies from across the globe to our state. This is hopefully only the beginning of a productive partnership with Mittal Steel that will pay important economic dividends for years to come." "I'm delighted to welcome Mittal Steel to Chicago," said the mayor. "Chicago is the ideal location for a corporate headquarters. We have an excellent business climate; a welcoming corporate community; all the business services a company could possibly need; non-stop flights to every part of the nation and the world; and, most of all, an outstanding quality of life. I look forward to seeing Mittal's executives become leaders of our business community and active participants in the civic and cultural life of our city." "All of us look forward to having our leadership team in one place, in Chicago, at the earliest possible moment," added Schorsch. Mittal Steel USA is the largest steel producer in North America, and is part of Mittal Steel Co. N.V., the largest steelmaker in the world. The U.S. company has operations or joint ventures in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and West Virginia. It employs about 21,000 people and has annual production capacity of 21 million tons. Mittal was represented in the site selection and long-term lease transaction by Todd Lippman, an executive vice president at CB Richard Ellis. Hines was represented in-house by Greg Van Schaack, a senior vice president, and Jim Walsh, senior project manager, both based at its Chicago regional office. About Mittal Steel Mittal Steel Company N.V. (NYSE:MT)(AEX:MT) is the world's largest and most global steel company. The company has operations in 14 countries, on four continents. Mittal Steel encompasses all aspects of modern steelmaking, to produce a comprehensive portfolio of both flat and long steel products to meet a wide range of customer needs. It serves all the major steel consuming sectors, including automotive, appliance, machinery and construction. For 2004, Mittal Steel had revenues of US$22.2 billion and steel shipments of 42.1 million tons. The company trades on the New York Stock Exchange and the Euronext Amsterdam under the ticker symbol "MT." Mittal Steel USA, formed in April 2005, consists of Ispat Inland Inc. and Mittal Steel USA ISG Inc., formerly International Steel Group. It has operations in 12 states of the United States. DATASOURCE: Mittal Steel CONTACT: David C. Allen, Corporate Communications of Mittal Steel, +1-312-899-3692

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