U.S. Steel (X.US) strongly supports Nippon Steel's acquisition bid, firmly resisting Ancora's potential involvement.
U.S. Steel (X.US) stated on Monday that it remains committed to selling the company to Nippon Steel, and expressed concern about the motivations behind the nomination of 9 directors, including former Stelco CEO Alan Kestenbaum, by Ancora Holdings, an activist investor, who has launched a proxy battle for the steel producer's 12-member board.U.S. Steel said, "Given Ancora and Alan Kestenbaum's recent dealings with Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF.US), one of the bidders for U.S. Steel, the company is concerned about the motivations behind these nominations."U.S. Steel stated that Ancora only holds 0.18% of the company's shares, though Ancora has indicated it is accumulating "significant" shares and plans to disclose them in the future.Ancora is seeking shareholder support for a plan to remove U.S. Steel's CEO David Burritt and to abandon litigation to save the merger with Nippon Steel, while expressing no interest in selling the company to any other party.