Bringing steel manufacturing back to the US?Japan's Nippon Steel on Wednesday completed its $14.1 billion takeover of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel, and provided greater detail on its national security agreement with the American government.
Axios
Oh, you think? In the Trump administration?Nippon agreed to buy U.S. Steel in late 2023 for $55 per share, in a deal that was opposed by both the United Steelworkers union and then-candidate Donald Trump.
President Biden also signaled opposition, and later blocked the deal on national security grounds.
[...]
Trump, upon taking office, ordered a new national security review. His administration also began negotiating for concessions, including additional investments from Nippon into U.S. Steel facilities. The two sides seemed to have an agreement weeks ago but didn't officially provide details — raising the risk of insider trading.
But its profits will be Japanese.The completed merger is under the same headline terms as the original agreement, including the $55-per-share price tag.
But it also includes the commitment of $11 billion of new investments in U.S. Steel by 2028, with another $3 billion after that.
The company's headquarters will remain in Pittsburgh (as originally anticipated); its key management and the majority of its board will be U.S. citizens.
Weren' those steel tariffs to protect US production?
U.S. Steel also committed under a national security agreement to producing enough steel to meet U.S. market demands.
Finally, the U.S. government gets a so-called "golden share," whereby the White House would need to approve changes to any of the above conditions. It's unclear what sort of enforcement mechanisms are attached.
This deal could create a playbook for foreign companies seeking to buy sensitive U.S. assets, by showing that the key to Trump's approval is making new investment promises.
UPDATE 06/19/2025:
No comments:
Post a Comment