Competition for National Steel acquisition gets severe
The Federal Trade Court's conclusion of the waiting period before the set deadline, has freed AK Steel Corp.'s $1.12 billion offer for National Steel from one antitrust obstacle. Another request by the Justice Department dated February 6, 2003 is however, still pending. However, AK Steel also needs to sort out the disputes with the United Steel Workers of America. Furthermore it is speculated that the rival bidder US Steel corp. is preparing to revise its bid for National Steel. US Steel still has the opportunity to overbid AK Steel by only offering $17 million more during an April auction. AK Steel placed its original offer of $ 1.02 billion for National Steel on January 23, 2003, surpassing the rival US Steel Corp.'s offer of $ 950 million. After a short while, AK Steel offer received approval from the Bankruptcy Court and declared as the leader bidder. Despite the above facts, the dispute with the Union continues to stand as a problem for AK Steel ever since the company locked out the Union workers three years ago at its Mansfield Ohio mill. The company is given time until March 17, 2003 by the Bankruptcy Court to reach an agreement with the Union.