Nippon Steel’s bid to take over US Steel is developing into a brutal battle, with big business, an angry union, and the world’s most powerful governments digging in and trying to advance their own interests. It’s all happening in the context of one of the most contentious elections in US history.
Throughout it all, analysts and informed observers have been weighing the possible outcomes, tallying the potential damage, and offering opinions on the best way forward in a transaction that could set a dangerous precedent and have the potential to disrupt the global order.
Consensus is emerging on a pragmatic, tailored approach that shows that a US administration rejection of the deal would be a one-off and would not signal a new way of thinking about how transactions are approved.