Brussels, 10/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission decided to extend the duration of the preliminary investigation into the planned takeover bid by steel firm Mittal Steel for its European competitor Arcelor. The examination of Mittal Steel's offer, which was notified on 10 April, was initially due to end on 19 May, but the Commission, which intends to look into the arrangements proposed by Lakshmi Mittal's firm, has pushed back the date to 7 June. The hostile takeover bid, initially evaluated at 18.6 billion EUR, has since been increased and now stands close to 22 billion EUR. Although Arcelor recently bought the Canadian company Dofasco, Mittal has stated its intention to sell this company back to ThyssenKrupp once its operation is complete.