The head of Cleveland-Cliffs confirmed Monday that he remains interested in buying U.S. Steel if the iconic American company’s proposed deal with Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel falls through.
Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves made the remarks two weeks after President Joe Biden said he was blocking the U.S. Steel-Nippon deal on national security grounds.
“The problem is we can’t do anything until … the current board of U.S. Steel makes the decision to abandon — that’s the term, it’s harsh — abandon the merger agreement with Nippon Steel,” Goncalves said at a press conference in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Cleveland-Cliffs owns a steelmaking facility. “If I present an offer today, they can’t take it.”
U.S. Steel and Nippon condemned Biden’s late December decision as the result of a “corrupt” process influenced by Goncalves, Cleveland-Cliffs and United Steelworkers union President David McCall. They have asked a federal court to vacate the order, which would allow incoming President Donald Trump a chance to decide the issue.