US integrated steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs is considering selling assets, possibly to foreign investors, after months of railing against the acquisition of a rival by an overseas steelmaker.
The company is focusing on the potential sale of non-core assets, which could help pay down debt, chief executive Lourenco Goncalves said Monday in his company’s quarterly earnings call. Cliffs has engaged investment bank JP Morgan as an adviser for the potential asset sales.
Nippon Steel’s recent $14.1bn purchase of US Steel showed that foreign firms have an interest in US blast furnace steelmakers, Goncalves said.
“Everything else is possible, including carve-outs in our footprint, and then I’m talking about core assets,” Goncalves said. “We are entertaining a lot of inbound interest from different credible potential suitors for endeavors that we might or might not take.”
Goncalves staunchly opposed Tokyo-based Nippon Steel’s pursuit of US Steel from the outset in 2023, but he is now using the deal as a sales pitch to other foreign investors.
“Nippon Steel’s entry into our market and their astonishingly high investment promises highlight the strength and appeal of the opportunities here,” Goncalves said. “Foreign investment in Cliffs becomes an attractive opportunity for other foreign entities.”
The steelmaker has received interest in the potential purchase of three recently idled facilities located in Riverdale, Illinois, and in Steelton and Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, chief financial officer Celso Goncalves said. Those plants could be attractive to data center developers because of their access to water and power, he said.
Cleveland-Cliffs’ balance sheet shows $7.7bn in long-term debt.