By Alexandra Alper and Diego Oré
WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s antitrust watchdog is expected to renew its approval of Nippon Steel’s fraught $14.9-billion bid for U.S. Steel as soon as Thursday, according to three people familiar with the matter, removing one of the last remaining hurdles to the tie-up.
Cofece, as the regulator is known, gave the merger a green light previously, the people said, declining to be named as the matter was not public. Mexican approval of the proposed acquisition, first announced in December 2023, has since expired and must be renewed for the merger to proceed.
Cofece did not immediately respond to requests for comment. U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel declined to comment.
The news, which has not been previously reported, comes as investors wait anxiously for President Donald Trump to give final approval of an agreement to assuage any U.S. national security concerns.
Trump technically has until Thursday to sign it.
The tie-up faced obstacles from the start, with both former President Joe Biden and Trump asserting last year that U.S. Steel should remain U.S.-owned, as they sought to woo voters ahead of the presidential election in Pennsylvania, where the company is headquartered.
Biden blocked the deal in January on national security grounds, prompting lawsuits by the companies, which argued the national security review they received was biased. The Biden White House disputed the charge.
The steel companies saw a new opportunity in the Trump administration, which began on January 20 and opened a fresh 45-day national security review into the proposed merger in April.
But Trump’s public comments, ranging from welcoming a simple “investment” in U.S. Steel by the Japanese firm to floating a minority stake for Nippon Steel, spurred confusion.
On Friday, at a rally in Pennsylvania, Trump lauded an agreement between the companies and said Nippon Steel would make a “great partner” for U.S. Steel. But he later told reporters the deal still lacked his final approval, leaving unresolved whether he would allow Nippon Steel to take ownership.
(Reporting by Alexandra Alper and Diego Ore, Editing by Franklin Paul and Rod Nickel)
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