Alright, so here’s the lowdown on what’s happening with U.S. Steel and Nippon and the whole political circus around it. Imagine a soap opera but with steel and presidents. So, buckle up.
First up, you got U.S. Steel shares popping off. They hit this peak—like, a 52-week high kinda deal. Why? ‘Cause Trump, yes, THAT Trump, put down the order for a national security thingamajig on Nippon Steel. Yeah, they’re eyeing to scoop up U.S. Steel for this hefty price tag—almost $15 billion. Imagine that stack of cash.
But wait, plot twist! Before he took his exit, Biden slammed the brakes on that deal. And remember, Trump had been hollerin’ about blocking it too. So, what does he do? He throws the deal into the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (fancy name, huh?) to sniff out any potential “uh-oh” security risks. Gotta see if Nippon isn’t trying to pull a fast one, right?
This got the shares spiking a whopping 16% on Monday, then, you know, a bit of a chill rise on Tuesday. It’s like the stock market’s doing the cha-cha.
So, the CFIUS—they’ve been given 45 days to make sense of this whole mess and decide if there’s any other hocus-pocus to worry about. In the meantime, Nippon and U.S. Steel are gonna be given a chance to explain themselves. Gotta hear both sides, doncha think?
Then there’s Ancora Holdings Group. They’ve got their little piece of the U.S. Steel pie, and they’re saying, “We’re cool with Nippon buying our slice,” but like, “Hey, let’s not rush this shareholders meeting.” They wanna push it back a bit past June 18, after this review blows over. I mean, who likes rushing meetings?
Ancora’s like, “Chill, let’s wait for the government to finish its dance before U.S. Steel jumps the gun with its Annual Meeting.” Makes sense, more time to see how this soap opera plays out.
Meanwhile, the initial offer from Nippon kinda blew up as a political hot potato for the 2024 election. The deal’s got ties to Pennsylvania—a state that swings like a pendulum (and carries mad voting power). And oh, the United Steelworkers were team “block-the-deal.” Biden was on their side, warning Nippon might not keep its promises on jobs and might mess with the books.
The CFIUS cooked up a report on all these national security jitters but then kinda choked on coming to an agreement. It was like, “Yeah, maybe concerns, maybe not, let’s just keep everyone guessing.” A month later, Biden stuck to his guns and said, “Nope, not happening.”
In one corner, Nippon and U.S. Steel, they weren’t too happy about being blocked. So, they did the classic “see you in court” move, claiming shady dealings from the union and some competitor steel company.
Then Trump throws another curveball. By February, he hints Nippon’s might drop the idea of buying U.S. Steel altogether and just… invest or something. Because apparently the symbolic value is more than enough.
So yeah, the drama’s still unfolding. Who’d have thought steel could be so gripping? Keep the popcorn coming.
