Nippon Steel Offers $1 Billion to Take Trading Arm Private (1)

Nippon Steel Corp. offered to pay as much as 136.6 billion yen ($1 billion) to take Nippon Steel Trading private.

Nippon Steel, which currently owns 34.5% of Nippon Steel Trading, will eventually own 80% of the company with Mitsui & Co. holding 20% if the deal succeeds and the company is delisted, according to a statement on Wednesday.

Nippon Steel offered 9,300 yen a share in a tender to take the trading firm private, which is expected to be launched around late February. The offer represents an 88% premium over Wednesday’s closing price of 4,960 yen, according to Bloomberg calculations. ...