US Steel to explore strategic alternatives after unsolicited bids

Aug 13 (Reuters) – United States Steel (X.N) said on Sunday it is initiating a formal review to evaluate strategic alternatives for the steel producer after receiving multiple unsolicited bids for part or all of its business.

The review was begun after the steel producer received “multiple unsolicited proposals that ranged from the acquisition of certain production assets to consideration for the whole company,” CEO David Burritt said in a statement without disclosing details about the strategic alternatives.

Barclays Capital and Goldman Sachs (GS.N) are serving as financial advisors to U.S. Steel, while Milbank LLP and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz are acting as legal advisors, the steel producer said.

Rival Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (CLF.N) on Sunday said it had previously proposed to buy U.S. Steel in a private offer on June 28, which was rejected by the board of U.S. Steel as being “unreasonable.”

Cleveland-Cliffs had offered to pay $17.50 in cash and 1.023 shares of Cliffs stock per U.S. Steel share, it said in a statement.

U.S. Steel, which has been raising prices to offset the impact from higher costs related to raw materials and energy, has seen strong demand for its steel products, helping the company beat profit estimates for the second quarter.

U.S. Steel also expects to complete about $75 million of repurchases of common stock in the second quarter under its existing $500 million stock buyback authorization.

Reporting by Akanksha Khushi and Jyoti Narayan in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Paul Simao and Chris Reese

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