The long-awaited and contested merger between Nippon Steel and US Steel has closed, Kallanish learns from a US Steel press release issued Wednesday.
Highlights of the acquisition include Nippon’s $11 billion investment into US Steel facilities by 2028. The US Steel headquarters will remain in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with existing US mills maintaining capacity to meet domestic demand. Additional investments are designed to protect and create more jobs at the acquired sites in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Arkansas, Minnesota and Alabama.
“This is a momentous day for our country, our communities, and the American steel industry,” states US Steel chief executive Dave Burritt. “American workers secured the best possible deal. US Steel will remain rooted in the United States and continue to call Pittsburgh home. Through our partnership with Nippon Steel, we are poised to grow better and bigger, with transformative investment, cutting-edge technology, and the creation of good-paying jobs across the United States.”
A key aspect of the national security agreement (NSA) with the US government tied to the $14.1 billion deal is what commerce secretary Howard Lutnick calls a “perpetual golden share” provision. The agreement prevents Nippon Steel from relocating US Steel operations out of Pittsburgh, changing the company’s name, or closing domestic plants without government consent.
“I am very pleased that the partnership between Nippon Steel and US Steel has been realised thanks to President [Donald] Trump’s historic and visionary decision,” states Nippon Steel chairman and chief executive Eiji Hashimoto.
Nippon’s ceo expresses the company’s excitement about opening a new chapter in US Steel’s storied history and becoming what he calls “world’s leading steelmaker.”
In a previously scheduled appearance at the Global Steel Dynamics Forum on Wednesday afternoon in New York, Burritt celebrated the closing of the transaction by thanking many, many stakeholders and supporters of the deal. He said Nippon will deploy additional artificial intelligence and automation at the US properties “that will strengthen, not sideline, our people.” Nippon ownership, under the agreed-to guarantees, will ensure that US Steel, founded in 1901, thrives “for the next 124 years,” Burritt proclaims.
US Steel is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Steel North America. The shares stopped trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning. Ticker “X” will be officially delisted on 30 June. The sharefolders are collecting $55/share in cash from Nippon.
Dom Yanchunas USA , John Isaacson USA
