Correspondence 0001104659-25-024879 from UNITED STATES STEEL CORP (CIK 0001163302)
UNITED STATES STEEL CORP (CIK 0001163302)
Date: March 18, 2025 · CIK: 0001163302 · Accession: 0001104659-25-024879
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 001-16811
Referenced dates: March 14, 2025
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MARTIN
LIPTON
STEPHEN
R. DiPRIMA
51
WEST 52ND STREET
KARESSA
L. CAIN
JACOB
A. KLING
HERBERT
M. WACHTELL
NICHOLAS
G. DEMMO
NEW
YORK, N.Y. 10019-6150
RONALD
C. CHEN
RAAJ
S. NARAYAN
EDWARD
D. HERLIHY
IGOR
KIRMAN
BRADLEY
R. WILSON
VIKTOR
SAPEZHNIKOV
DANIEL
A. NEFF
JONATHAN
M. MOSES
TELEPHONE:
(212) 403-1000
GRAHAM
W. MELI
MICHAEL
J. SCHOBEL
STEVEN
A. ROSENBLUM
T.
EIKO STANGE
FACSIMILE:
(212) 403-2000
GREGORY
E. PESSIN
ELINA
TETELBAUM
SCOTT
K. CHARLES
WILLIAM
SAVITT
___________
CARRIE
M. REILLY
ERICA
E. AHO
JODI
J. SCHWARTZ
GREGORY
E. OSTLING
MARK
F. VEBLEN
LAUREN
M. KOFKE
ADAM
O. EMMERICH
DAVID
B. ANDERS
GEORGE
A. KATZ (1965 –1989)
SARAH
K. EDDY
ZACHARY
S. PODOLSKY
RALPH
M. LEVENE
ADAM
J. SHAPIRO
JAMES
H. FOGELSON (1967 –1991)
VICTOR
GOLDFELD
RACHEL
B. REISBERG
ROBIN
PANOVKA
NELSON
O. FITTS
LEONARD
M. ROSEN (1965–2014)
RANDALL
W. JACKSON
MARK
A. STAGLIANO
DAVID
A. KATZ
JOSHUA
M. HOLMES
___________
BRANDON
C. PRICE
CYNTHIA
FERNANDEZ LUMERMANN
ILENE
KNABLE GOTTS
DAVID
E. SHAPIRO
OF
COUNSEL
KEVIN
S. SCHWARTZ
CHRISTINA
C. MA
ANDREW
J. NUSSBAUM
DAMIAN
G. DIDDEN
MICHAEL
S. BENN
NOAH
B. YAVITZ
RACHELLE
SILVERBERG
IAN
BOCZKO
ANDREW
R. BROWNSTEIN
ERIC
S. ROBINSON
ALISON
Z. PREISS
BENJAMIN
S. ARFA
STEVEN
A. COHEN
MATTHEW
M. GUEST
WAYNE
M. CARLIN
ERIC
M. ROSOF
TIJANA
J. DVORNIC
NATHANIEL
D. CULLERTON
DEBORAH
L. PAUL
DAVID
E. KAHAN
BEN
M. GERMANA
JOHN
F. SAVARESE
JENNA
E. LEVINE
ERIC
M. FEINSTEIN
DAVID
C. KARP
DAVID
K. LAM
SELWYN
B. GOLDBERG
MICHAEL
J. SEGAL
RYAN
A. McLEOD
ADAM
L. GOODMAN
RICHARD
K. KIM
BENJAMIN
M. ROTH
PETER
C. HEIN
WON
S. SHIN
ANITHA
REDDY
STEVEN
R. GREEN
JOSHUA
R. CAMMAKER
JOSHUA
A. FELTMAN
JB
KELLY
DAVID
M. SILK
JOHN
L. ROBINSON
MENG
LU
MARK
GORDON
ELAINE
P. GOLIN
JOSEPH
D. LARSON
ELLIOTT
V. STEIN
STEVEN
WINTER
JEANNEMARIE
O’BRIEN
EMIL
A. KLEINHAUS
RICHARD
G. MASON
LEO
E. STRINE, JR.*
EMILY
D. JOHNSON
PHILIP
MINDLIN
PAUL
VIZCARRONDO, JR.
THEODORE
N. MIRVIS
JEFFREY
M. WINTNER
DAVID
S. NEILL
AMY
R. WOLF
TREVOR
S. NORWITZ
MARC
WOLINSKY
*
ADMITTED IN DELAWARE
___________
COUNSEL
DAVID
M. ADLERSTEIN
ANGELA
K. HERRING
SUMITA
AHUJA
MICHAEL
W. HOLT
HEATHER
D. CASTEEL
DONGHWA
KIM
FRANCO
CASTELLI
MARK
A. KOENIG
ANDREW
J.H. CHEUNG
J.
AUSTIN LYONS
PAMELA
EHRENKRANZ
ALICIA
C. McCARTHY
ALINE
R. FLODR
JUSTIN
R. ORR
KATHRYN
GETTLES-ATWA
NEIL
M. SNYDER
LEDINA
GOCAJ
JEFFREY
A. WATIKER
ADAM
M. GOGOLAK
March 18, 2025
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
Office of Mergers & Acquisitions
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20549
Attention: Perry Hindin
Re: United States Steel Corporation
Preliminary Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A filed March 7, 2025
File
No. 001-16811
Mr. Hindin:
We hereby submit the response
of United States Steel Corporation (“U. S. Steel,” or the “Company”) to the comment of the staff
(the “Staff”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission set forth in the Staff’s letter, dated March 14, 2025
(the “Comment Letter”), providing the Staff’s comments with respect to the Company’s Preliminary Proxy
Statement on Schedule 14A filed on March 7, 2025 (the “Preliminary Proxy”). For the convenience of the Staff, the Staff’s
comment is set forth below in bold text, and is followed by the Company’s response. Unless the context indicates otherwise, references
in this letter to “we,” “us” and “our” refer to the Company.
U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission
March 18, 2025
Page 2
Capitalized terms used but
not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings assigned to such terms in the Preliminary Proxy.
Preliminary Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A filed March 7, 2025
1. Disclosure throughout the proxy statement references the “pending merger with Nippon Steel”
or similar language suggesting that such merger may still occur. It is our understanding that:
· a closing condition to the Merger Agreement includes clearance of the Merger by the Committee on Foreign
Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”);
· on December 23, 2024, CFIUS notified President Biden by letter that it was unable to reach a conclusive
determination as to whether Nippon Steel should be permitted to acquire the Company, referring the final decision to President Biden;
· on January 3, 2025, President Biden issued an executive order blocking the transaction, citing national
security concerns and the importance of preserving the domestic steel industry, and requiring the parties to abandon the Merger Agreement
within 30 days; and
· the current administration has made public statements suggesting that it does not support a control
acquisition of the Company by Nippon Steel.
With a view towards
enhanced disclosure and so that shareholders may have sufficient information in order to make a fully informed voting decision on the
election of directors, the approval of compensation paid to certain executive officers, and the approval of the 2016 incentive compensation
plan, please advise what consideration the Company has given to including disclosure regarding the current status of the Merger and the
merger litigation, the likelihood the Merger will be consummated in light of President Biden’s executive order, and the Company’s
rationale for pursuing such litigation rather than terminating the merger agreement and collecting a $565 million termination fee from
Nippon Steel.
Response:
In response to the Staff’s comment, the Company proposes to add to the proxy statement the additional language below (subject
to any updates for developments prior to such filing) relating to the current status of the Nippon Steel transaction and the related
litigation and the Board’s considerations. The Company believes that this approach strikes the
right balance between ensuring that the Company’s stockholders are aware of the current status of the pending transaction with
Nippon Steel and the Board’s considerations, including the substantial ongoing public disclosures made by the Company and the
potential for further developments after the date of the proxy statement, without giving undue focus to a topic that is not a matter being brought before the Company’s stockholders
at the Company’s annual meeting.
*
* *
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U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission
March 18, 2025
Page 3
Pending Transaction
with Nippon Steel
As previously
disclosed, in 2023, following interest received from multiple parties, the Board initiated and oversaw an extensive strategic
alternatives review process to maximize shareholder value. This resulted in the Company’s entry into an Agreement and Plan of
Merger (the “Merger Agreement”), dated December 18, 2023, with Nippon Steel North America, Inc. Pursuant to the
Merger Agreement, Nippon Steel North America will acquire the Company (the “Merger”) in exchange for consideration of
$55 in cash per share of Company common stock, representing a 142% premium to the unaffected share price as of August 11, 2023. The closing of the Merger is subject to certain closing conditions. These closing conditions include clearance by the Committee on
Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) under the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended. On January
3, 2025, the then-President of the United States issued an order prohibiting the Merger (the “Order”).
On January 6,
2025, the Company and Nippon Steel announced that they had jointly filed a lawsuit in the United States Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit challenging (a) the violation by the President of the United States and CFIUS of the constitutional due
process and statutory rights of the Company, Nippon Steel and Nippon Steel North America, (b) CFIUS’s failure to review the
Merger on national security grounds and (c) the President of the United States’ subsequent order blocking the Merger (the
“CFIUS Litigation”).
Section 2(b) of the
Order required the Company and Nippon Steel to abandon the Merger Agreement within thirty days. On January 10, 2025, CFIUS granted an
extension of that deadline to June 18, 2025.
On March 14, 2025,
the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion to extend the briefing deadlines in the CFIUS Litigation by 21 days and reschedule the
oral argument from April 24, 2025 to the week of May 12, 2025 to allow the government to complete its ongoing discussions with the parties
regarding the Merger, with the goal of eliminating the need for resolution of the CFIUS Litigation on the merits. The Company and Nippon
Steel consented to the motion, which remains subject to court approval.
The Board has
continued to oversee the path to completion of the Merger since the signing of the Merger Agreement, the adoption of which was
supported by more than 98% of the shares voted at the Company’s special meeting held to consider adoption of the Merger
Agreement. The Board oversight has included multiple meetings and deliberations over many months with members of management, as well
as the Company’s outside advisors and other experts relating to various aspects of consummating the Merger. Prior to and following
issuance of the Order, the Board reviewed and considered the Company’s options with respect to the
Merger and Merger Agreement. The Board determined that the CFIUS Litigation was and continues to be meritorious and appropriate to
pursue as a critical part of its strategy to obtain satisfaction of the closing conditions necessary to consummate the Merger, which
it believes is in the best interests of the Company’s stockholders.
3
U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission
March 18, 2025
Page 4
The Merger, the
Merger Agreement, the issuance of the Order, the subsequent filing of the CFIUS Litigation by the Company and Nippon Steel, the
extension of the deadline in the Order and the motion to extend the briefing deadlines in the CFIUS Litigation are described further
in the Company’s SEC filings. The Company will continue to make disclosures of any material subsequent developments with
respect to these matters in the Company’s SEC filings, via press release, or through such other methods as the Company deems
appropriate. There can be no assurance that the Merger will be completed, or that the Company and Nippon Steel’s efforts
in the CFIUS Litigation will be successful.
* * *
Should you have any questions
regarding the foregoing, or wish to discuss this matter, please do not hesitate to contact any of us. Josh Cammaker can be reached at
(212) 403-1331 or JRCammaker@wlrk.com, Jenna Levine can be reached at (212) 403-1172 or JELevine@wlrk.com and Elina Tetelbaum can be reached
at (212) 403-1061 or ETetelbaum@wlrk.com.
Very truly yours,
/s/
Joshua R. Cammaker
/s/ Jenna E. Levine
/s/ Elina Tetelbaum
Joshua
R. Cammaker
Jenna E. Levine
Lina Tetelbaum
cc:
Duane D. Holloway, United States Steel Corporation
Megan Bombick, United States Steel Corporation
Robert F. Kennedy, Milbank LLP
Iliana Ongun, Milbank LLP
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