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U.S. Steel addressed the possible sale of the company in a letter to shareholders. The steelmaker acknowledged receiving multiple unsolicited proposals.

Those proposals, U.S. Steel wrote, range from acquisition of parts of the company to acquiring all of the steelmaker.

“While the board of directors and management team are confident in the strategy currently under way, we take these proposals seriously. Our number one obligation is to uphold our fiduciary duties. This means that we are focused on the path forward for our company that drives the most value for you – our stockholders,” said the letter from President David Burritt and Board Chair David Sutherland.

As a result of the interest, the board has opted to conduct a strategic alternatives review process to “to fairly and fully evaluate all options available for U. S. Steel.” The company plans to make the review public to ensure input from all interested parties.

As part of the process, U.S. Steel is entering confidentiality agreements with numerous third parties and is sharing due diligence information under those agreements.

The executives said the company did not know how long the process would take, but assured the relevant parties will be working to find the proper solution as quickly as possible.

“Once the review of the strategic alternatives is completed, the Board will decide on a path forward for the company that it believes is in the best interest of U. S. Steel stockholders,” the letter said.

The most notable name to publicly announce its interest was fellow integrated steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs. Service center company Esmark initially announced interest but withdrew its bid based on the existing support for a Cliffs acquisition from the U.S. Steelworkers.