Cleveland-Cliffs CEO confirms interest in buying U.S. Steel

By Doug Palmer | 01/13/2025 04:24 PM EST

Cleveland-Cliffs began the takeover drama in the summer of 2023 by making a $7.3 billion bid to buy U.S. Steel.

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.”

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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.

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