Japan’s Nippon Steel announced on Saturday that its vice chairman, Takahiro Mori, who is a key negotiator for the planned purchase of U.S. Steel, will travel to the United States next week to meet stakeholders as part of ongoing efforts to finalize the deal.
A spokesperson for Nippon Steel in Tokyo confirmed that Mori will visit the United States to continue dialogues with various stakeholders to gain a better understanding of the situation. However, she declined to provide further details, such as who Mori will be meeting with and the duration of his stay in the U.S.
U.S. Steel referred comments to its Japanese counterpart.
In December, Nippon Steel offered nearly $15 billion to take over U.S. Steel. This proposal faced resistance from both Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican former President Donald Trump, as well as the United Steelworkers (USW) union.
To gain the support of the USW, Nippon Steel has committed to relocating its U.S. headquarters to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where U.S. Steel is based, and has offered assurances on job security and additional investments if the deal proceeds.
The Japanese steelmaker expects to close the deal in the second half of 2024, compared with its previous timeline of the second to third quarter, following a request from the U.S. Department of Justice for more details and materials in an antitrust review.
The European Commission has already approved the deal.
Despite growing opposition, an overwhelming majority of U.S. Steel shareholders voted in favor of the deal in April.
