Nippon Steel Ups Investment Proposal in Effort to Close U.S. Steel Deal

Image Credit: JapanTimes

Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel are actively negotiating to maintain their $14 billion merger and secure additional investments from the Japanese steelmaker into U.S. facilities, according to a report by Semafor on Thursday.

In recent discussions with White House officials, Nippon Steel proposed increasing its original $2.7 billion offer to upgrade U.S. Steel factories to as much as $7 billion, sources familiar with the matter said. Neither Nippon Steel nor U.S. Steel immediately responded to Reuters’ request for comment.

Nippon Steel's President, Tadashi Imai, stated on Monday that the two companies will continue talks with the U.S. government to finalize terms for the equity purchase and future investment plans.

In February, U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba discussed Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel, which would be structured as an investment rather than a full acquisition. Trump also indicated he would support Nippon Steel taking a minority stake in U.S. Steel.

Nippon Steel, the fourth-largest steelmaker globally, made its $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel in December 2023, pledging significant investments to modernize U.S. Steel's outdated infrastructure and committing to maintaining its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Paraphrasing text from "Reuters" all rights reserved by the original author