By Anirban Sen, Alexandra Alper and David Shepardson
(Reuters) – Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:) is partnering with peer Nucor (NYSE:) to prepare a potential all-cash bid for U.S. Steel, with an offer in the high $30s per share, a person familiar with the matter said on Monday.
Cliffs is aiming to purchase all of U.S. Steel and then sell its Big River Steel mill to Nucor if the deal is completed, the person added on condition of anonymity because the details have not been made public.
Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves and rival Japan’s Nippon Steel, which has an agreed deal to buy U.S. Steel, engaged in a war of words over who was the better partner for the struggling company.
Goncalves reiterated in a wide-ranging press conference on Monday in Butler, Pennsylvania, that he wanted to bid again for U.S. Steel after making a rejected offer in 2023 and had a plan, but declined to elaborate on details.
“I’m happy that I’m in a position to make…
