ArcelorMittal bid for all of US Steel ‘unlikely’ but could pick up some pieces, Citi says

A bid for the whole of US Steel (NYSE:X) from ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) looks unlikely, as it disposed nearly all its U.S. assets to Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) three years ago, but it is not impossible, Citi analysts Ephrem Ravi and Krishan Agarwal said Thursday.

ArcelorMittal (MT) “going for a similar bunch of assets in its entirety would appear unlikely,” Citi’s Ephrem Ravi wrote, but it could be interested in acquiring assets that might need disposing as part of a potential and separate deal between US Steel (X) and Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF).

“Significant anti-trust remedies” would be likely in any US Steel (X) deal with Cliffs (CLF), and ArcelorMittal (MT) “likely could (and arguably should) be a front runner for many of those assets,” especially in automotive sheet and electrical steel, according to Ravi.