High domestic demand for steel, changes in the structure of the global economy, and new U.S. legislation were all cited by Nippon Steel as factors in the deal.
U.S. Steel’s stock prices rose 25 percent on news of the deal, jumping from around $40 per share to $50 per share in Monday morning trading, still well below the offer price.
But shortly after the sale dominated headlines, Fetterman vowed on Twitter to do everything he could to “block” the deal.
“I live across the street from U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thompson plant in Braddock,” Fetterman said in a statement.
“It’s absolutely outrageous that U.S. Steel has agreed to sell themselves to a foreign company. Steel is always about security — both our national security and the economic security of our steel communities. I am committed to doing anything I can do, using my platform and my position, to block this foreign sale.”
Nippon Steel will pay $55 per share in a cash transaction to purchase U.S. Steel and will assume all the company’s debt.
The offer price “represents a 40-percent premium to U.S. Steel’s closing stock price on December 15,” Nippon Steel said in a Monday statement announcing the terms of the acquisition.
Founded in 1901 by banking magnate J.P. Morgan, U.S. Steel was once the largest company in the world and one of the first companies with a billion-dollar valuation.
According to estimates by the World Steel Association, the combined annual production capacity of Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel would equal 58.56 million metric tonnes, moving it ahead of Ansteel Group to become the world’s third-largest steel producer.
The Hill’s Tobias Burns has more here.
