Nippon Steel’s proposed US$15bil takeover of US Steel has drawn sharp criticism in the United States. — Reuters
TOKYO: Nippon Steel would move its US headquarters to Pittsburgh where its acquisition target US Steel is based if the deal goes through, an executive says, adding to the pledges from the Japanese steelmaker to secure the transaction.
Nippon Steel’s proposed US$15bil takeover of US Steel has drawn sharp criticism in the United States where President Joe Biden said last week the asset should remain domestically owned while his opponent in November presidential vote, Donald Trump, promised to block the deal if he is re-elected.
The Japanese company, the world’s fourth biggest steelmaker, has been in talks with the United Steelworkers, a labour union key for Biden and Trump in the upcoming November elections and which so far was opposing the deal.
“Not only are we keeping the Pittsburgh headquarters – which other bidders would not be able to do – but we are planning to move Nippon Steel’s existing US headquarters from Houston to Pittsburgh,” executive vice-president Takahiro Mori, Nippon Steel’s key negotiator on the deal, was quoted as saying.
In comments released in a US Steel document to the US Securities and Exchange Commission overnight, Mori said his company remained engaged with the USW and has offered a number of specific commitments on job security, investments and others. — Reuters
