U.S. Steel, once the largest steel producer and world’s largest corporation, agreed to be bought by Japan’s largest steelmaker, Nippon Steel, for $14.9 billion.

The company, headquartered in Pittsburgh, is now the world’s 24th-largest steel producer and the second-largest in the United States behind Nucor Corporation.

The deal remains pending due to regulatory and shareholder approval.

“Under terms of the deal, US Steel’s operations will retain its name and will continue to have a headquarters in Pittsburgh. But the deal could still stir opposition,” CNN reports.

“To say we’re disappointed in the announced deal between U.S. Steel and Nippon is an understatement, as it demonstrates the same greedy, shortsighted attitude that has guided U.S. Steel for far too long,” the United Steelworkers Union said.

“Our union intends to exercise the full measure of our agreements to ensure that whatever happens next with U.S. Steel, we protect the good, family-sustaining jobs we bargained,” the statement added.

The union hopes to block the deal.

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Per CNN:

Earlier this summer the United Steelworkers union vowed to only support a proposed offer by another unionized American steel company, Cleveland Cliffs, to buy US Steel, in a cash and stock deal then valued at $32.53 a share, or 40% less than Nippon’s all cash offer. The US Steel board rejected that offer and started considering other bids.

The union, which has 11,000 members at US Steel, attacked the Nippon Steel deal on Monday.

“The acquisition of U.S. Steel by a foreign company is wrong for workers and wrong for Pennsylvania. I’m gonna do everything I can to block it,” said Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA).

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“According to an October press release, U.S. Steel ‘supported an estimated 11,417 jobs’ in Pennsylvania, including more than 3,700 directly employed by the company. The October report estimated that U.S. Steel generated $3.6 billion for the local and state economy in fiscal 2022,” The Hill reports.

From The Hill:

U.S. Steel said in its announcement that Nippon Steel will “honor all collective bargaining agreements with United Steelworkers Union as part of commitment to maintaining strong stakeholder relations” and that the headquarters will remain in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Nippon Steel said that the higher demand for steel under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was one of the contributing factors in the deal.

“Energy and manufacturing industries [will] return to the U.S. under changes in the world economy structure and cheap energy in the U.S. The infrastructure bill and spending is expected to drive steel demand uptick moving forward,” the company wrote in a statement analyzing the deal.

 

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