Rival CEO cast doubt on Nippon Steel deal prospects to investors

White House says he played no role in Biden's move to block bid

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Even as Japan's Nippon Steel faced skepticism over its doomed US$14.9 billion (S$20.4 billion) bid for US Steel from the Biden administration, it was also contending with headwinds from an unlikely source - the chief executive of a rival bidder for the firm who repeatedly cast doubt on the deal's prospects to investors.

Mr Lourenco Goncalves, CEO of steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs, which made a failed US$7 billion bid for US Steel in August 2023, participated in at least nine calls assuring investors that President Joe Biden would scuttle the Nippon Steel merger months before he did so on Jan 3, according to summaries of investor calls.

The summaries were included in a Dec 17 letter from lawyers for Nippon Steel and US Steel to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS), and confirmed to Reuters by two participants in the calls.

"I can't force US Steel to sell to me, but I can work my magic to make a deal that I don't agree with not to close," he told investors on a March 13 call hosted by JP Morgan, the letter quoted Mr Goncalves as saying. "It's not closing, and Biden hasn't spoken yet. He will."

The next day, Mr Biden announced his opposition to the tie-up.