TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nippon Steel said on Tuesday it would sell a total of 2.9 million shares in South Korea's Posco Holdings in an effort to "improve asset efficiency".

The timing of the sale and its impact on financial results will be announced at a later date, Nippon Steel said in a statement.

Japan's biggest steelmaker is reportedly planning to offload at least $211 million in assets this fiscal year to manage its debt ahead of a planned $14.9 billion takeover of U.S. Steel.