Pittsburgh's US Steel sold to foreign company after 122 years in America

The sale of the United States Steel Corporation, better known as U.S. Steel, has been approved by board members. The company will almost certainly be sold to a foreign buyer.

Ini what is truly an end of an era, the company that started in 1901 and was key to the industrialization of the country is set to be acquired by Nippon Steel, a Japanese company with a value of over $21 billion.

The deal is valued at approximately $14.1 billion, according to Western Journal, which notes that the offer stood at $14.9 billion, but the buyer will absorb a little less than $1 billion in U.S. Steel's debt.

Nippon dates back to 1950 and currently employs over 105,000 workers. The company reportedly came close to doubling an offer U.S. Steel had received months prior from rival steel company Cleveland Cliffs, founded in 1847. The Pittsburgh company rejected that offer, however.

The American icon will reportedly keep its name, and its headquarters will remain in Pittsburgh, where it was founded approximately 122 years ago. J.P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie founded the company after Morgan financed a merger between three steel companies for $492 million at the time.

In addition, U.S. Steel was the first billion-dollar company in the United States.

Nippon will reportedly pay $55 per share, with shares hovering between that and $50 on the day of the sale's announcement.

The Japanese company reportedly stated that the acquisition will bring its annual crude steel capacity to 86 million tons to meet demands for automotive and electrical steel.

"The transaction builds on our presence in the United States, and we are committed to honoring all of U.S. Steel’s existing union contracts,” Nippon President Eiji Hashimoto said in a statement.

While the transaction will clearly help grow the Japanese company's market, the U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt claimed that the deal will actually benefit the United States.

A sale to Nippon “[ensures] a competitive, domestic steel industry, while strengthening our presence globally," Burritt claimed.

While the purchase has been approved by board members from both companies, it still needs approval from U.S. Steel shareholders.

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