A building at Nippon Steel's Nippon Steel Kashima East Works facility in Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture, north of Tokyo on December 6, 2024.
Richard A. brooks | AFP | Getty Images
US President Joe Biden decided to ban Nippon Steel A takeover offer worth $14.9 billion United States steel, The Washington Post It was reported on Friday, citing two unnamed administration officials who did not have permission to speak about the matter.
The White House is expected to announce Biden's decision on Friday, according to the Washington Post.
The decision on whether to allow the deal to go ahead was He was tagged with Biden This came on December 23 after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States failed to reach consensus United States steel.
Biden had 15 days to approve or block the deal after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' assessment reached his desk, prompting a decision on Nippon Steel. Extension of the transaction deadline To the first quarter of 2025 compared to the third or fourth quarter of 2024.
CFIUS was concerned that after the acquisition, Nippon Steel could reduce US Steel's production capacity, which could pose a risk to US national security.
“A potential decline in US Steel's production could lead to supply shortages and delays that could impact industries important to national security,” The Washington Post I mentioned CFIUS also stated in its assessment.
To allay this concern, Nippon Steel on Tuesday presented it to the US government Power to veto Any reductions in the company's steel production.
Nippon Steel had done this previously It made a number of concessions In connection with the transaction, such as retaining US Steel's headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and appointing US citizens to US Steel's board of directors.
The deal was supported by US Steel shareholders, who… It was voted on in April To pass.
“The overwhelming support from our shareholders is a clear endorsement of their recognition of the compelling rationale for our deal with NSC,” said US Steel President and CEO David P. Porritt.
But these factors were not enough to influence Biden, who has long publicly opposed the deal. In March, Biden issued a statement Official statement “It is imperative that US Steel remains a domestically owned and operated American steel company,” he said.
US President-elect Donald Trump also expressed his resistance to the proposed acquisition of Nippon Steel.
Trump said in a speech: “I am against the purchase of a once great and powerful American steel company by a foreign company, in this case the Japanese company Nippon Steel.” He posted on his social media platform Truth Social On December 2nd.
Japan-listed shares of Nippon Steel rose 1.2% at 1 a.m. ET.
— CNBC's Li Ying Shan contributed to this report.
