TOKYO (Reuters) -The U.S. government may hold some of U.S. Steel’s shares as part of a deal to allow Japan’s Nippon Steel to acquire the American steelmaker, Kyodo reported on Tuesday.
The Japanese news agency said an idea had been floated for the U.S. government to hold a so-called “golden share” which would give Washington the power to veto important management matters.
Kyodo did not cite any sources for the information. Nippon Steel declined to comment on the report and the White House could not be immediately reached for comment.
Japan’s top steelmaker has for months sought to seal a $14.9 billion bid to acquire the storied American firm, with the deal subjected to two rounds of national security reviews by the secretive Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
President Donald Trump on Friday signaled support for the deal, sending the shares of both companies leaping higher, but his comments have left lingering questions about the scope of the deal and its costs for the Japanese firm.
Trump said on Sunday that the United States will have “control” over U.S. Steel as part of the company’s “partnership” with the Japanese firm, but did not elaborate.
(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko, Kentaro Komiya, Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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