U.S. Steel deal: 3 scenarios for Nippon Steel after Biden block

TOKYO — Nippon Steel’s bid to acquire U.S. Steel succumbed to an unusual fate when President Joe Biden blocked the deal, marking the first time a U.S. president has issued an order to halt a Japanese company’s acquisition of an American peer.

For Nippon Steel, expanding in the U.S. market was an opportunity it couldn’t pass up, and the $14.9 billion deal was also part of an overseas-growth strategy as the Japanese market shrinks.