News & Events

The Tokyo Office of the Firm is representing a consortium comprised of Japan’s JFE Steel Corporation (JFE), Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC) and Sojitz Corporation (Sojitz) and Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) and POSCO in the acquisition of a 15% stake in Companhia Brasileria de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM) for $1.95 billion.  JFE, NSC and POSCO are three of the world’s largest steel producers, JOGMEC is a Japanese independent administrative corporation, NPS is a Korean pension fund and Sojitz is a leading Japanese trading company. 

Established in 1955, CBMM is the most comprehensive supplier of niobium products in the world.  Element atomic number 41, niobium is indispensable in the production of high-grade steel products due to its strengthening properties.  Steel products using niobium include pipelines, automobiles, construction steel, spacecraft engines and other cutting edge machinery.  CBMM owns a niobium mine, a refinery and metallurgical production facilities in the Araxá area of Minas Gerais State, Brazil.  In addition to the share purchase, Simpson Thacher is also representing JFE, NSC, POSCO and Sojitz with respect to a long-term niobium supply agreement with CBMM. 

The Simpson Thacher team working on the transaction includes David Sneider, Sam Porter and Noritaka Kumamoto (M&A), David Vann and Andrew Dempster (Antitrust) and Robert Smit (Arbitration).