Cleveland-Cliffs Partners with Nucor to Bid for U.S. Steel
Cleveland-Cliffs is partnering with Nucor to prepare a potential all-cash bid for U.S. Steel, with an offer in the high $30s per share, a person familiar with the matter said. The proposed deal would involve Cliffs purchasing all of U.S. Steel and then selling its Big River Steel mill to Nucor if the deal is completed.
Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves has been trying to acquire U.S. Steel for some time, and in August 2023, the company made an unsolicited bid for U.S. Steel at $54 per share. U.S. Steel’s board rejected the offer, citing concerns about antitrust regulators and the consolidation of the supply of steel to U.S. automakers.
Goncalves reiterated his desire to bid again for U.S. Steel during a press conference on Monday, stating that he has a plan and is willing to make an offer that will “execute on the wishes of the board and the management.” U.S. Steel shares closed at $36.34 on Monday.
Nucor did not respond immediately to a request for comment, while Cliffs described the potential bid as aimed at ratcheting up pressure on Nippon Steel, whose imperiled $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel was blocked by President Joe Biden in a January executive order.
Nippon Steel, which had offered $55 a share cash for U.S. Steel, said in a statement that it would do whatever it takes to close its deal and that it is the only partner that can keep U.S. Steel intact and protect jobs. U.S. Steel said it remained committed to completing its merger with Nippon Steel.
The potential bid from Cliffs and Nucor comes as a war of words has erupted between Goncalves and Nippon Steel over who is the better partner for U.S. Steel. Goncalves took aim at Japan during his press conference, describing it as “worse than China” and accusing it of teaching China how to “dump, how to have over-capacity, how to overproduce” steel in the U.S. market. Nippon Steel countered, saying that Goncalves’ words were biased stereotypes.
