Steel

Ratan Tata leaves more to India than its tycoons

10 Oct 2024

The former Tata chair, who has died aged 86, put a kind face on capitalism, though his bold cross-border M&A and lingering influence hurt the salt-to-steel conglomerate. The new era of industrialists in the country are financially shrewder but less universally admired.

US Nippon Steel rebuff would be cruel and kind

10 Sep 2024

Washington may block the Japanese company's $15 bln takeover of US Steel. It'd be a blow to Nippon's plans to offset growth challenges at home and overcapacity from China. But it has other options that may eventually yield better returns than it could extract from its US target.

China steel woes will recast miners’ M&A desires

27 Aug 2024

Buying copper-heavy Anglo American would have helped BHP CEO Mike Henry reduce the $140 bln miner's dependence on iron ore. With the steel industry facing a "harsh winter", deals must look ever-more appealing to BHP, Rio and others. But stock price drops make tie-ups more costly.

US Steel tug-of-war threatens to pull it apart

19 Mar 2024

Cleveland-Cliffs has put its rival in a bind, rallying political and labor opposition to a $14 bln agreed sale to Japan’s Nippon while pushing its own questionable takeover bid. No deal at all would be bad news for the target’s union workers. A carve-up might be inevitable.

Joe Biden out-MAGAs Donald Trump

14 Mar 2024

The US president is siding with union workers who oppose a US Steel takeover by Japan’s Nippon. He also said he would sign a bill forcing TikTok’s Chinese owner to sell the popular app or see it banned. The ad hoc approach to national security concerns sets a dangerous precedent.

US Steel calibrates depth of trustbuster discounts

24 Jan 2024

Before Nippon prevailed, Cleveland-Cliffs fought hard to seal a deal, new documents show. Even $1.7 bln of synergy value and a chunky $1.5 bln break fee couldn’t sway the target, however. It’s a revealing portal into how competition authorities are altering merger decisions.

US Steel deal stokes fiery stakeholder standoff

17 Jan 2024

The $14 bln sale to Nippon Steel is riling workers and politicians. A rival Cleveland-Cliffs bid will attract trustbusters. Staying independent would anger shareholders and squeeze automakers. It epitomizes today’s fraught M&A, but the Japanese buyer is in the strongest position.

Nippon’s $15 bln US Steel deal burns too hot

18 Dec 2023

The Japanese company beat out Cleveland-Cliffs and others to buy a tempting supplier to American automakers. Overseas expansion also makes sense, but disgruntled unions may be problematic. And the bidding war pushed the price to a level that undermines the acquisition’s strength.

EU-US steel unity may come at a high cost

19 Oct 2023

Europe could soon join the United States in whacking tariffs on other alloy producers. EU leaders and Joe Biden may want to shield firms like ArcelorMittal from Chinese imports. But helping the 130 bln euro industry could weaken global trade rules, and the bloc’s climate policy.

Indian interlopers can disrupt global mining M&A

25 Aug 2023

Sajjan Jindal’s JSW Steel can afford Teck’s coal unit. A full or part bid rivalling Glencore’s $8 bln offer would secure key raw materials and reduce the risk of geopolitical supply shocks. It’s a strong motive for buyers in the fastest growing market for the alloy to do deals.

US Steel should hold out for a better deal

21 Aug 2023

The world’s first $1 bln company has rejected a $7 bln takeover bid from rival Cleveland-Cliffs. The suitor is touting union support that could short-circuit a broader sale process. A merger makes strategic sense, so much so that the target’s shareholders deserve more.

Hostile $7 bln steel war will be forged in fire

14 Aug 2023

Cleveland-Cliffs’ run at 122-year-old metal producer US Steel comes amid a post-Covid slump in the commodity. Strategically and economically it makes sense. But the industry would go from four major producers to three. And the target is, at best, a reluctant participant.

Capital Calls: European steel

21 Jul 2023

Concise views on global finance: Sweden’s $6 bln group SSAB misses profit forecasts as Europe’s demand tanks and steel prices shrink.

ThyssenKrupp’s hydrogen hype is oddly conservative

13 Jan 2022

The German group is seeking 600 mln euros from an IPO of Nucera, which uses green power to make the gas from water. It expects the energy transition to inflate sales from almost nothing to 650 mln euros by 2025. Compared to hope-filled listed rivals, the valuation looks sober.

Capital Calls: Risky banks, UK SPAC, AO World

23 Nov 2021

Concise views on global finance: A global watchdog reckons JPMorgan is once again the world’s most systemically important lender; investment firm Hambro Perks launches a UK blank-cheque vehicle; the British online retailer issues its second profit warning in two months.

EU-U.S. green steel deal shows way for COP26

2 Nov 2021

Washington and Brussels will set a common external tariff for dirtier types of the metal. It’s similar in effect to the EU’s carbon border levy, with less of the grief. The lesson for Glasgow negotiators is that sector-based deals may be a safer bet than big multilateral ones.

Viewsroom: Soccer, steel and the COP; Andrea Orcel

28 Oct 2021

As world leaders and corporate chieftains converge on Glasgow for the UN climate powwow, Rob Cox and George Hay talk about one European steel town's struggle to transition from hydrocarbons to a green new era. And Lisa Jucca discusses the latest on UniCredit’s M&A options.

Moving carbon goalposts will be a wrenching burden

27 Oct 2021

The work required to make a net-zero transition is far harder than regularly announced political targets suggest. A soccer team in Taranto, Italy, home to Europe’s largest and most notorious steel mill, offers a glimpse into the economic struggles facing cities the world over.

UK’s Gupta merits net zero rescue in all senses

1 Apr 2021

The steel entrepreneur’s tottering industrial empire is a tricky candidate for a state bailout. But it could give the government a chance to decarbonise a major source of emissions. Done smartly, it may help Britain hit green goals and stabilise a perennially flaky sector.

Boris Johnson will feel Gupta steel jitters too

10 Mar 2021

GFG Alliance says it has adequate funding, but key financing partner Greensill is collapsing. If Sanjeev Gupta’s industrial empire were to struggle, the UK leader has little economic reason to save its British operations. Yet domestic politics may still force him to step in.