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Nippon Steel delays deadline to complete U.S. steel deal as Biden decision looms | Real Time Headlines

A sign outside the Marunouchi Park Building where Nippon Steel Corporation is headquartered, Monday, March 25, 2024, in Tokyo, Japan.

Kiyoshi Ohta | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Japanese Nippon Steel Said Thursday that it has extended the deadline for the $14.9 billion acquisition United States Steel Corporation U.S. President Joe Biden is weighing whether to block a deal that has faced strong opposition since it was announced.

The deadline was revised from the previous third or fourth quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025.

Nippon paid a huge premium to secure the deal at an auction in December, but the deal was opposed by the powerful United Steelworkers (USW) union as well as politicians.

Biden has said he wants U.S. Steel to be domestically owned and operated, while President-elect Trump has vowed to block the deal after taking office in January.

On Monday, the committee that reviews U.S. foreign transactions over security concerns left the decision on whether to approve or block the deal to Biden. He has 15 days to make a decision, and if he doesn’t act, the merger will be approved unexpectedly.

“Nippon Steel hopes the president will use this time to conduct a fair and fact-based evaluation of the acquisition. We continue to believe the acquisition will protect and grow U.S. Steel,” the company said Thursday.

U.S. Steel shares rose 1.7% premarket. They never reached the $55 per share offer, indicating investor concerns about the timeline for the deal to close.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba urged Biden to approve the merger to avoid damaging recent efforts to strengthen ties between the two countries, Reuters reported in November.

Japan also said on Thursday that a review process by the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division was also underway, but did not specify when it would end.

Despite opposition, U.S. Steel shareholders voted overwhelmingly to approve the acquisition in April.

The companies have also worked to ease concerns about the merger. Nippon Steel offered to move its U.S. headquarters to Pittsburgh, home to the U.S. steelmaker, and pledged to abide by all agreements between U.S. Steel and USW.

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