Ohio’s Cleveland-Cliffs to Merge with AK Steel

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., an Ohio-based iron ore mining company that has mines and pellet plants in Michigan and Minnesota, and AK Steel Holding Corp., also in Ohio, have announced they have received all necessary regulatory approvals in connection with their proposed merger transaction. Financial details were not disclosed.
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Cleveland-Cliffs iron ore pellets
Cleveland-Cliffs and AK Steel plan to close their merger on March 13. Pictured are iron ore pellets from Cleveland-Cliffs. // Photo courtesy of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., an Ohio-based iron ore mining company that has mines and pellet plants in Michigan and Minnesota, and AK Steel Holding Corp., also in Ohio, have announced they have received all necessary regulatory approvals in connection with their proposed merger transaction. Financial details were not disclosed.

AK Steel’s Dearborn Works facility in Dearborn offers carbon steel melting, casting, hot and cold rolling, and finishing operations. It was the original Ford steel operation, built in 1928 by Henry Ford.

Cliffs has two mines in the Upper Peninsula southwest of Marquette – Tilden Mine and Empire Mine. Empire Mine has been idled indefinitely.

Under the transaction, Cliffs would acquire all of AK Steel’s outstanding shares. AK Steel would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Cliffs.

Cliffs and AK Steel Friday received confirmation of clearance from the Mexican Competition Commission. The companies previously received necessary regulatory clearance pursuant to Canada’s Competition Act and early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976.

The transaction is scheduled to close on March 13 and remains subject to adoption by both companies’ stockholders.

Cliffs was founded in 1847 and expects to be the sole producer of hot briquetted iron in the Great Lakes region this year with the development of its first production plant in Toledo. It agreed to acquire AK Steel on Dec. 2.

AK Steel produces flat-rolled carbon, stainless, and electrical steel products primarily for the automotive, infrastructure and manufacturing, and distributors and converters markets. It also provides solutions with carbon and stainless steel tubing products, hot- and cold-stamped components, and die design and tooling through its subsidiaries. It has about 9,300 employees at facilities in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Western Europe.