Agencies
The trial for Nippon Steel Corp’s lawsuit seeking to nullify former U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to block its $14.1 billion takeover of U.S. Steel Corp is set to begin in early February, court documents obtained by Kyodo News showed Monday.
The opening brief will be filed by the Nippon Steel side on Feb 3, with both the plaintiffs and defendants scheduled to finish making their claims in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by March 17, according to the documents.
The administrative lawsuit is expected to end before June 18, the date by which the U.S. government is asking Nippon Steel to abandon the takeover plan, as the court decision is usually made one to two months after the exchange of pleadings, according to legal experts.
Nippon Steel also filed a separate civil suit against rival Cleveland-Cliffs Inc, its chief executive and United Steelworkers union leader David McCall earlier at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, saying they colluded to block its acquisition of U.S. Steel.
The Japanese steelmaker plans to utilize evidence obtained in the civil suit for the administrative suit.In the petition filed to the U.S. court of appeals, Nippon Steel criticized Biden, saying his “decision was predetermined”.
