As well as the Scunthorpe plant, it will include two steel mills in Teesside, a workshop in Workington and a consultancy in York.
Advertisement
The deal is expected to complete within the next two months, after which Greybull will rebrand the company “British Steel”.
Javid revealed that key management at Tata had confided in him recently that they had, at one point, been considering an “immediate closure” of the plant in Port Talbot.
The general secretary of the Community union, Roy Rickhuss, is still positive that a possible sale will happen and that the steel company is still considered a good business.
The sale of Tata’s Scunthorpe works in northern England and associated operations to Greybull Capital has been nine months in the making and is separate from the United Kingdom government’s effort to save Tata’s Port Talbot plant in south Wales.
Greybull also provided financial backing for the controversial takeover of Comet, a deal that involved investors pocketing millions of pounds as the chain collapsed into administration.
British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond urged China on Saturday to accelerate its push to cut steel production as the failing steel industry continues to hobble both countries’ economies.
Tata said that after discovering the problems it immediately stopped the improper practices, alerted more than 600 direct and indirect customers and notified bodies including the SFO, which has opened a criminal investigation.
On the other hand, Gupta said in an interview that he is not sold out with the idea of acquiring the Tata plant. “It’s more of a question of what are the resources required in turning it around”.
“In particular, the suggestion that the Government could co-invest with new owners in the interests of the long-term future of steel-making in the United Kingdom helps to send the right signal to potential investors and to Tata Steel’s customers that the Government is determined to maintain the integrity and continuity of the business”.
The agreement follows negotiations between Tata Steel UK and Greybull Capital and is an important milestone towards continuing steelmaking in Scunthorpe and steel processing in other locations in the UK and France, the India giant said.
Tata Steel is the second-largest steel producer in Europe with a diversified presence across the continent.
The combined operations form Tata’s Long Products Europe (LPE) business.
Advertisement
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
