Essar Steel Says it Is Considering Increasing Offer for Esmark Inc.

NEW YORK, June 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Essar Steel Holdings Limited (Essar), a part
of the multi-billion dollar Essar Global Limited, a diversified business
conglomerate with interests in the sectors of Steel, Energy, Power, Shipping &
Logistics, Telecommunications, Mining & Minerals, and Construction, today
informed the Esmark Board of Directors that it was ready to consider a
potential increase to its April 30, 2008 offer to acquire Esmark Inc at USD 17
per share. Essar also said that it would consider making an increased bid
after it had obtained additional information from Esmark.

Essar, on the invitation of Esmark and UBS, the firm's financial advisors,
participated in a bidding process for the sale of Esmark shares. After
following all legal procedures and a transparent bid process, Essar's offer
was unanimously accepted by the Esmark Board.

Following Esmark's acceptance of Essar's offer on April 30, 2008, Essar
entered into a memorandum of agreement with Esmark to acquire Esmark Inc. at
an estimated enterprise value of USD 1.1 billion which includes a proposed
tender offer for a cash purchase price of USD 17 per share of all outstanding
shares of the Nasdaq listed steel company.

Simultaneously, at Esmark's request, Essar also immediately extended a USD 110
million loan to Esmark, which helped the company address a potential default.
As part of the acquisition strategy, Essar has also proposed a capital
expenditure program of USD 525 million for Esmark's Ohio and West Virginia
manufacturing facilities over the next five years.

In a letter sent today to the Esmark Board of Directors, Essar specifically
sought information on "any arrangements or understanding" that Severstal may
have had with Franklin Mutual Advisers, LLC, an institutional shareholder of
Esmark, who Essar understands has agreed to tender their shares into the
Severstal offer. ESHL also urged the Board to "recognize its continuing
obligations under the Memorandum of Agreement, dated April 30, 2008, and in
particular Esmark's agreement to enter into the Merger Agreement upon the
expiration of the Right to Bid period provided in Article Eleven, Section D of
the CBA."

About Essar Global
Essar Global Limited (EGL) is a diversified business corporation with a
balanced portfolio of assets straddling the manufacturing and services sectors
of Steel, Energy, Power, Telecommunications, Shipping, Ports & Logistics,
Mining & Mineral Resources, and Construction. EGL has an enterprise value of
approximately USD 50 billion and employs 30,000 people worldwide.

About Esmark Incorporated
Esmark Incorporated is a vertically integrated steel producer and distributor,
combining steel production capabilities through both blast furnace and
electric arc furnace technologies with the just-in-time delivery of
value-added steel products to a broad customer base concentrated in the Ohio
Valley and Midwest regions.
Note to Editors

Essar Steelis a global producer of steel operating out of India, North
America, the Middle East and Asia. It is a fully integrated flat carbon steel
manufacturer -- from iron ore to ready-to-market products. It has a current
capacity of 8.5 million tons. With Essar's expansion in India, Asia and North
America, capacity is expected to rise to about 20 million tons by 2012. Essar
successfully acquired Algoma Steel in Sault Ste Marie, Canada, in 2007, where
following a capital expenditure program and incorporating improved work
processes, it has increased production from 2.5 MTPA to 3.4 MTPA in just 10
months.

Essar Energy operates a fully integrated oil company of international size and
scale in India. Its assets include development rights in proven oil & gas
blocks, a 12 million tons per annum refinery, currently being expanded to 34
million tons per annum, and over 1,500 fuel stations across India. Plans are
under way to increase exploration acreage, further acquire / build oil
refineries internationally, and open a total of 5,000 fuel stations.

Essar Power operates five power generation plants with a capacity of 1,200
megawatts. Its portfolio includes gas and coal fired plants and renewable
energy sources. Essar is currently increasing its generation capacity to 6000
MW of coal and gas fuelled plants, with an investment of approximately USD 5
billion. It also plans to enter the power transmission and distribution
markets.

Essar Telecommunications is the single largest investor (with a 33% interest)
in Vodafone-Essar, a joint venture with Vodafone Group and one of India's
largest cellular service providers, with 46 million subscribers, currently
adding 2 million subscribers every month. Essar owns 'The MobileStore',
India's largest national retail chain of mobile phone stores. Essar has a
major presence in the telecom infrastructure space with one of the largest
investments in tower companies. Essar operates India's 4th largest business
process outsourcing business operating under the Aegis brand, with 20 centers
spread across USA and India staffed by over 20,000 employees.

Essar Ports, Shipping & Logistics is a comprehensive, end-to-end player in
maritime transportation, ports and terminals, logistics, contract drilling and
allied services. It is a global shipping and logistics provider with sea and
surface transportation services, oilfield drilling services, dry and liquid
terminals, tankage and associated pipelines.

Essar Projects is a global engineering procurement and construction company
based in Dubai with offices in India and China. The Essar Engineering Center
specialises in detailed engineering and design for large projects. Global
Supplies specialises in procurement. Construction executes projects for
industrial plants, civil & irrigation projects, pipe laying -- both offshore
and onshore, marine construction and highways and expressways. Heavy
Engineering Services manufactures pressure vessels, reactors, vacuum vessels
and cranes. Essar Constructions undertakes projects on a turnkey basis, with a
pipeline division certified at ISO 9001.

Essar Mining & Minerals owns iron ore and coal mines in India and overseas. It
has acquired the U.S. based Minnesota Steel that has iron ore reserves of
approximately 1.5 billion tons.

SOURCE Essar Global Limited

Madhu Vuppuluri, President, Essar-Americas, +1-212-758 5520; Keith Dorman,
Burson Martseller, +1-412-874-0502, for Essar; Manish Kedia, Sr. Vice
President, Essar, India, +91 98197 30092; B Ganesh Pai, General Manager,
Essar, India at +91 98197 30225; or William Clutterbuck, Maitland, UK: +44 207
379 5151