Cleveland is reportedly willing to pay over $40 a share for U.S. Steel

United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) opened in the green today following a report that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (NYSE: CLF) is now willing to pay over $40 a share for the integrated steel producer.

Cleveland-Cliffs has raised its original bid

Cleveland had initially offered to buy U.S. Steel for $35 a share – half of which it had proposed to pay in cash and the remaining in stock.

But the new bid may be weighted a bit more towards cash, as per sources that talked to CNBC this morning on the condition of anonymity.  

Cleveland will likely include a divestiture package or a reverse termination fee in its offer to minimising the risk of anti-trust scrutiny, they added.

The report arrives more than a month after U.S. Steel said its profit tanked a whopping 39% on a year-over-year basis in its third financial quarter.

ArcelorMittal is also interested in U.S. Steel

Note that a U.S. Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs merger will account for 40% and 60% of flat-rolled and auto-grade steel respectively in the United States.

The combined company will globally be the tenth largest steel producer. Among those interested in buying U.S. Steel is ArcelorMittal as well.

While details of its bid are not entirely known yet, it does reportedly have financing to value the Pittsburgh-headquartered firm at $45 per share.

U.S. Steel stock is now up roughly 85% versus its year-to-date low in early June. Carlos De Alba – a Morgan Stanley analyst recently named it a “top pick” as Invezz reported here.