High commodity prices have made steel firms attractive to buyers

Arcelor, which is widely expected to again reject the approach, will release its decision at 0600 BST on Monday.

However, a trickier subject will be how to deal with investors who want to halt Arcelor's plan to buy a Russian firm in order to block the takeover by Mittal.

The unhappy investors hold about 29% of Arcelor stock and want a shareholder meeting so they can vote on the plan.

It is reported that Mittal may sweeten the deal to try and convince Arcelor shareholders to back it.

Tough choices

Arcelor is looking to fend off Mittal, which has tabled a hostile bid of nearly 22bn euros (�15bn).

Its main strategy to put off the aggressive suitor has been to unveil plans to buy Russian steel firm Severstal in a deal worth some 13bn euros.

Arcelor would end up with 68% of the new merged steel firm, leaving 32% in the hands of Severstal's owner, billionaire Alexey Mordashov. Mr Mordashov is said to have close ties with the Kremlin.

Mittal first launched its hostile bid for Arcelor in January, and has since then upped its offer.

Many Arcelor shareholders have said they prefer Mittal to Severstal, and the European Commission has approved Mittal's bid.