Nippon Steel’s big acquisition of United States Steel Corporation was finalised on Wednesday in a high-stakes, 18-month effort to merge the two countries’ steelmakers, a join statement by the companies revealed.
The deal comprises Nippon buying 100 per cent of US Steel’s shares at $55 per share, as was being discussed in its December 2023 offer. The $14.9 billion acquisition accords the upper hand to the Trump administration.
The deal has fortified US Steel as the world’s second-largest steelmaker, while also turning the combined entity into a strong competitor inside the American steel industry.
The New York Stock Exchange halted trading of US Steel shares earlier Wednesday, noting that the acquisition was effective.
With the deal, Japan’s Nippon Steel gets an important foothold in the US that helps avoid US President Donald Trump’s 50% steel tariffs.
The two companies had reached a conditional deal with Trump’s administration on Friday that allowed them to close their deal first announced in December 2023, after the Japanese steelmaker agreed to invest an additional $11 billion in the Pittsburgh-based producer.
The steelmakers said they also struck a National Security Agreement with the US, in which US Steel will issue a so-called ‘golden share’ to the government. The golden share gives consent rights to the US president concerning reductions in capital investments, changing US Steel’s name and headquarters, redomiciling outside the US, transferring jobs or production outside the US, acquisitions and decisions to close or idle existing facilities.
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