Weeks after the proposed $15 billion sale of U.S. Steel to Japan's Nippon Steel was given a reprieve, an investment firm is now aiming to scuttle the deal altogether.

Ancora Holdings Group recently acquired a 0.18% stake in U.S. Steel and, on January 27, announced that it had nominated a new CEO and a slate of nine independent directors who will support walking away from the sale. Ancora also said that its slate of directors and CEO candidate have committed to pursuing a $565 million breakup fee with Nippon Steel, "revamping" the company's executive leadership team, and protecting U.S. Steel facilities that have been under threat of closure. 

"The board’s choice to double down on its extremely poor decision to pursue a sale to Nippon has kept U.S. Steel in a corroded state," Ancora said in a letter to U.S. Steel's board of directors. "Rather than finally acknowledge the company’s perilous trajectory and try to course correct, the board remains steadfastly committed to an underperforming leader who apparently lacks the ability and vision to bring U.S. Steel back from a busted transaction."

President Joe Biden appeared to have blocked the sale to Nippon over national security concerns on January 3, giving the company 30 days to take the necessary steps to fully abandon the deal. But less than two weeks later, the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investments extended that deadline to June 18, 2025, effectively giving the two sides six more months to find a way to complete the sale. President Donald Trump has also previously said that he is "totally against" allowing a foreign company to take over U.S. Steel, although he has not commented on the proposal since he took office in January. In its letter, Ancora was confident that it would garner Trump's support, calling the president a "vocal opponent of the deal and long-term proponent of strengthening America's domestic manufacturing base."