Canada’s Stelco Holdings is weighing a bid to buy US Steel

Canada’s largest steelmaker Stelco Holdings is set to file a bid to acquire US Steel, adding to the list of suitors for the company. Bloomberg informs about it with the reference to sources.

Stelco is seeking to acquire the entire US Steel business to increase its portfolio of steelmaking assets and increase its share of the automotive steel supply market.

The Canadian company, according to sources, is in talks with a potential partner regarding its offer. A final decision has not yet been made, and it may decline to participate in a potential acquisition. Representatives of Stelco and US Steel declined to comment.

As Bloomberg notes, Stelco’s sales and market value are lower than US Steel, in particular, in 2022, the American company delivered six times more steel than the Canadian one. In 2007-2016, Stelco was a subsidiary of US Steel.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in August US Steel rejected the offer from rival Cleveland-Cliffs about a takeover valued at $7.3 billion. Instead, the company announced a process of reviewing strategic options.

Lourenco Gonçalves, chief executive of Cliffs, noted that he is looking forward to continued cooperation with the U.S. Steel regarding the potential deal. According to Reuters, the companies are currently at loggerheads over a confidentiality pact that would allow Cleveland-Cliffs to participate in the ongoing sale process.

In addition, the offer to purchase US Steel for $7.8 billion held Esmark, which operates in the industrial and raw materials sectors, later withdrew from a potential purchase at the request of the United Steelworkers union, which supported Cliffs.

In August, it was also reported that the opportunity to send an offer considered ArcelorMittal – the steel giant discussed the issue with investment bankers, but there was no certainty that the company would advance it.