Together with its competitor Nucor Corporation, US-based mining and steel company Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is preparing to submit a second bid to acquire US Steel, according to media reports. Cliffs had first offered about $7.3 billion back in August 2023 to acquire US Steel, though the offer was rejected, as SteelOrbis reported previously.
Under the deal, Cliffs would buy US Steel, sell the latter’s Big River Steel subsidiary to Nucor and keep the headquarters of US Steel in Pittsburgh. Cliffs’ steel business would come under US Steel, with the mining side becoming Cliffs and the steel side becoming US Steel. Yet, the final decision has yet to be made.
The current US President Joe Biden recently blocked the proposed acquisition of US Steel by Nippon Steel due to national security concerns. Following this development, US Steel and Nippon Steel filed separate lawsuits against the Biden administration, Cliffs and the United Steelworkers (USW) union. They accused Biden of ignoring the rule of law to please USW and to support his political agenda, and Cliffs and the USW leadership of being in cahoots to prevent the deal and to block other parties other than Cliffs from acquiring US Steel, and to harm US Steel’s ability to compete.