Japan's largest steelmaker, Nippon Steel, has hired former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to help with the company's $14.9 billion bid to acquire U.S. Steel. The Kydoo news agency of Japan and Bloomberg, which first reported the appointment, said Pompeo was hired as an adviser. Nippon Steel confirmed the news in a statement Saturday night. Pompeo served three terms representing Kansas in the U.S. House before he was picked as former President Trump's CIA director.
While the two companies have received regulatory approvals from relevant authorities outside the U.S., there remains political and regulatory scrutiny of the deal in the U.S. The Department of Justice launched an antitrust investigation of the proposed acquisition in April. In response to a DOJ request, Nippon pushed back the expected closing date for the acquisition from September to December, though it still expects the merger to ultimately proceed.