Trump says he wouldn't mind if Nippon Steel took minority stake in U.S. Steel (updated)

Nippon Koshuha Steel Co

14/02/2025 20:45

(Adds Trump comments, details and background)
    By Trevor Hunnicutt and Nandita Bose
       Feb 14 (Reuters) - 
    U.S. President Donald Trump said he wouldn't mind if Japan's
Nippon Steel  5401.T  took a minority stake in U.S. Steel  X.N ,
days after he announced Nippon's bid for the struggling U.S.
steelmaker would take the form of an 
    investment
     instead of a purchase. 
  
        Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday,
Trump said Nippon is now considering an investment, including
debt, in U.S. Steel.
  
        "Minority stake I wouldn't mind greatly," Trump said in
response to a question on whether he'd support a minority stake
by Nippon in the U.S. company. 
  
        "What they're doing right now is they're going to be
investors, and they're going to be investing in, I think, debt
and various other things," he added.
  
        Nippon's $14.9 billion pursuit of U.S. Steel has
stretched on for more than a year. The proposal became highly
politicized ahead of November's U.S. presidential election, with
both former President Joe Biden and Trump pledging to kill it. 
  
        Last week, Trump said he would be involved in a deal "to
mediate and arbitrate."
  
        Earlier this week, a Japanese government spokesperson
said Nippon is considering 
    proposing a bold change
     in plan from its previous approach of seeking to buy U.S.
Steel.
  
        
  

 (Reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones; Editing by Doina Chiacu and
Deepa Babington)
 ((ryan.jones@thomsonreuters.com;))