On Friday, President Joe Biden moved to block Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel, according to the Washington Post’s report citing two anonymous administrative officials.
The official statement from the White House on Biden’s decision is set to be released as soon as Friday.
U.S. Steel stated that the decision on the deal was referred to Biden on 23 December after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States failed to reach a consensus.
Due to the decision being referred to Biden, which he has 15 days to make, Nippon Steel has to move the transaction’s deadline from the second half of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025.
The acquisition has raised concern among CFIUS that Nippon Steel could slash U.S. Steel production capacity down, which may pose a risk to national security.
To ease the concern, Nippon Steel offered the U.S. government the ability to veto any reduction to U.S. Steel production on Tuesday.
Previously, Nippon Steel has offered numerous concessions for the transaction, including keeping U.S. Steel’s headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and staffing its board of directors with U.S. citizens.
Nippon Steel’s buyout was favored by U.S. Steel’s shareholders.
Though these concessions and support failed to sway Biden’s decision, he said that it is vital that U.S. Steel has to be owned and operated by an American.
President-elect Donald Trump also voiced his disapproval of Nippon Steel’s proposed acquisition on his Truth social media, saying that he is totally against U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company.
