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U.S. Steel Corp (X.N) and Japan's Nippon Steel (5401.T) have obtained all necessary regulatory approvals for their proposed $14.9 billion merger outside of the United States, the companies announced on Thursday.
Nippon successfully secured the deal to acquire U.S. Steel in December, beating out competitors such as Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF.N), ArcelorMittal (MT.LU), and Nucor (NUE.N).
The companies now await approval in the U.S., where the merger is under regulatory review and facing opposition from President Joe Biden, who advocates for U.S. Steel to remain under domestic ownership.
The United Steelworkers union is opposing the proposed transaction due to concerns about potential job losses, and the U.S. Department of Justice is examining the deal.
Nippon had attempted to alleviate these concerns by committing to uphold existing agreements between U.S. Steel and the union and by announcing plans to relocate its U.S. headquarters to Pittsburgh, where U.S. Steel is located.
Both companies have restated their anticipation that the transaction will be finalized in the latter half of this year.
U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel have reaffirmed their commitment to fully cooperate with relevant authorities and are resolute in completing the transaction, as they have done in previous months.
The proposed transaction has now been approved by the European Commission and regulatory authorities in Mexico, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. In early trading, shares of U.S. Steel rose by 1.7% to $37.77.
In April, U.S. Steel shareholders approved the deal, which would assist Nippon, the fourth-largest steelmaker in the world, in reaching its target of achieving 100 million metric tons of global crude steel capacity.
