“We will not give up on the deal... There is no global strategy without the U.S.,” Nippon Steel Vice Chairman Takahiro Mori told Reuters this week, after returning from his eighth visit to the United States since the deal was announced a year ago.
Asked whether U.S. Steel’s CEO David Burritt would remain in place, Mori said Nippon Steel would select the right person as CEO from various candidates, including Burritt, but no decisions had been made. Trump returns to the White House on Jan. 20, though President Joe Biden has also said U.S. Steel should remain an American-owned company.
To finance the acquisition, Nippon Steel has already raised some funds via hybrid financing and sold some assets, part of an effort to strengthen its financial position.