Nippon Steel finalizes $15B takeover of US Steel after sealing national security agreement

HARRISBURG Pa AP Nippon Steel and U S Steel mentioned Wednesday they have finalized their historic partnership a year-and-a-half after the Japanese company first proposed its deal to buy the iconic American steelmaker for nearly billion The pursuit by Nippon Steel for the Pittsburgh company was buffeted by national prevention concerns and presidential politics in a premier battleground state delaying the transaction for more than a year after U S Steel shareholders approved it It also forced Nippon Steel to expand the deal including adding a so-called golden share provision that gives the federal governing body a say in specific matters Together Nippon Steel and U S Steel will be a world-leading steelmaker with best-in-class technologies and manufacturing capabilities the companies explained The combined company will become the world s fourth-largest steelmaker and bring what analysts say is Nippon Steel s top-notch hardware to U S Steel s antiquated steelmaking processes In exchange Nippon Steel gets access to a robust U S steel area strengthened in newest years by tariffs under President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden analysts say Nippon Steel and U S Steel did not list the full terms of the deal and did not release a national guard agreement struck with Trump s administration But in a declaration Wednesday the companies revealed the federal governing body will have the right to appoint an independent director and consent rights on specific matters Those include reductions in Nippon Steel s capital commitments in the national defense agreement closing or idling of U S Steel s existing domestic facilities and changing U S Steel s name and headquarters Nippon Steel informed in December that it planned to buy the steel producer for billion in cash and debt and committed to keep the U S Steel name and Pittsburgh headquarters The United Steelworkers union which represents several U S Steel employees opposed the deal and Biden and Trump both vowed from the campaign trail to block it Biden used his authority to block Nippon Steel s acquisition of U S Steel on his way out of the White House after a review by the Committee on Foreign Capital in the United States After he was elected Trump changed curriculum and expressed openness to working out an arrangement and ordered another review by the committee That s when the idea of the golden share emerged as a way to resolve national guard concerns and protect American interests in domestic steel production As it sought to win over American authorities Nippon Steel also made a series of bigger capital commitments in U S Steel facilities tallying billion through it explained