JSA represents Nippon Steel Corporation and JFE Steel Corporation in successfully obtaining an unconditional approval from the CCI in relation to acquisition of interest in the Blackwater coal mine based in Australia (“BW Coal Mine”)

JSA acted as the sole and lead Indian counsel to Nippon Steel Corporation (“Nippon Steel”) (including its newly incorporated special purpose vehicle NS Blackwater Pty Limited (“NS Blackwater”) (collectively “Nippon Entities”)) and JFE Steel Corporation (“JFE Steel”) (including its newly incorporated special purpose vehicle JFE Steel Australia (BW) Pty Ltd. (“JFE Steel BW”) (collectively “JFE Entities”)) in securing an unconditional approval from the Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) pertaining to the proposed acquisition of:

• 20% interest in the BW Coal Mine, along with a coal offtake rights agreement in relation to the coal produced by the BW Coal Mine for the Nippon Entities (“Proposed Nippon Transaction”); and
• 10% interest in the BW Coal Mine, along with a coal offtake agreement in relation to the coal produced by the BW Coal Mine for the JFE Entities (“Proposed JFE Transaction”).

The Proposed Nippon Transaction and the Proposed JFE Transaction was approved by the CCI on 18 February 2025 in 26 days. It was one of the first deals notified to the CCI solely on account of breaching the deal value threshold which has recently been notified by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Deal Value: Nippon Steel Corporation – approx. USD 720 million; and JFE Steel Corporation – approx. USD 360 million.

Our transaction team comprised: Lead Partner and Chair, Competition Law – Nisha Kaur Uberoi, Partner – Harshita Parmar, Principal Associate – Rahat Dhawan, Senior Associate – Samriddha Gooptu, and Associates – Akanksha Mathur, Naman Katyal, and Ashmeka K.