CLEVELAND — Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has announced an approximate $1.4 billion “definitive agreement” to acquire substantially all of ArcelorMittal USA, LLC operations.

At the close of the transaction, Cliffs will be the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America. The company will also be the largest iron ore pellet producer in North America. It had combined steel shipments of approximately 17 million net tons and 28 million long tons of iron ore capacity in 2019.

Cleveland-Cliffs will acquire ArcelorMittal on a cash-free, debt-free basis, company officials say, using a combination of 78.2 million shares of Cliffs common stock, nonvoting preferred stock with an approximate aggregate value of $373 million, and $505 million in cash.

The total enterprise value of the transaction is approximately $3.3 billion, taking into consideration Cliffs’ assumption of the ArcelorMittals’ pension and other post-employment benefit liabilities and working capital, the release states.

Along with ArcelorMittal’s 870-acre hot-rolled and hot-dipped galvenized steel plant in Cleveland, Cliffs would aquire five other steel-making facilities in three other states, including plants in Indiana Harbor and Burns Harbor, Indiana; Coatesville and Steelton, Pennsylvania; as well as a plant in Riverdale, Illinois.

The transaction also includes eight finishing facilities, two iron ore mining and pelletizing operations and three coal and coke-making operations in Minnesota, northern Virginia, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

According to the ArcelorMittal website, the company employs nearly 11,000 people in its steel-making operations alone, with an additional 3,100 people employed in the eight finishing facilities, two iron ore mining and pelletizing operations, and three coal and cokemaking operations included in the proposed acquisition.

Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves, who will lead the expanded organization, said the company looks forward to welcoming the ArcelorMittal USA team.

“Steel-making is a business where production volume, operational diversification, dilution of fixed costs and technical expertise matter above all else, and this transaction achieves all of these. ArcelorMittal is a world-class organization that we have long admired as our customer and our partner, and we know for a fact that they have taken good care of their U.S. assets,” Goncalves said. “We are creating an exceptional company, based on great people and supported by our existing strong relationship with the United Steel Workers, the United Auto Workers and the machinist unions. The aquisition of ArcelorMittal USA amplifies our position in the discerning automotive steel marketplace, and further improves our position in important U.S. markets such as construction, appliances, infrastructure, machinery and equipment. It also adds to our strong legacy (of) raw material profile and growing finishing capabilities. The transaction will enable us to become a more efficient fully integrated steel system, with the ability to realize all of our operational and financial goals.”

ArcelorMittal is one of the world’s largest steel-making companies, with a presence in 60 countries and an industrial footprint in 18 countries, including Mexico, Canada and parts of Europe.

Monday’s announcement comes on the heels of the $1.1 billion aquisition of AK Steel Holding Corp. in March, the leading producer of flat-rolled carbon stainless and electrical steel products. AK Steel had over 9,000 employees at the time of the merger, according to its website.

Cliffs’ acquisition of ArcelorMittal’s U.S. operations has been unanimously approved by each companies’ board of directors and is expected to be complete in the fourth quarter of this year, according to the release. It is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.