BENGALURU: The European Union cleared US Steel’s $14.9 billion buyout by Japan’s Nippon Steel on Monday, allaying competition concerns from a deal that has drawn political opposition in the United States.
The approval by the European Commission was expected to be a formality but in the US, the deal is facing resistance from several lawmakers worried about national security and US Steel’s union, which is concerned about job losses.
While US President Joe Biden has said Pennsylvania-based US Steel should remain domestically owned, Republican front runner for the presidential race, Donald Trump said he would block the deal if elected.
Japan’s Nippon has tried to address the concerns by offering to move its US headquarters to Pittsburgh, where US Steel is based and by promising to honor all agreements in place between US Steel and the United Steelworkers.
Nippon had in December clinched a deal to buy the 122-year-old iconic steelmaker, prevailing over rivals bidders such as Cleveland-Cliffs, Arcelor-Mittal and Nucor.
The acquisition of US Steel will help Nippon, the world’s fourth-largest steel maker, move toward 100 million metric tons of global crude steel capacity.
Last week, US Steel said the Department of Justice had sought more details on the proposed merger as part of an antitrust review.
Despite mounting opposition, an overwhelming majority of US Steel shareholders voted in favor of the deal in April.
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