Latest news with #SpecialitySteelUK
BBC News
21-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
South Yorkshire steel firm insolvency on hold over possible buyer
A South Yorkshire steel company has avoided insolvency for the moment after a potential buyer was found, the High Court has Steel UK (SSUK), part of the Liberty Steel Group founded by Sanjeev Gupta, employs 1,450 people and has plants in Rotherham and representing SSUK said at a hearing on Wednesday that "urgent meetings" had been taking place with a "third party purchaser".Insolvency and Companies Court judge Sebastian Prentis adjourned a winding up petition for eight weeks until 16 July to allow time for the sale of the company to go through. Following the hearing, Jeffrey Kabel, Liberty Steel chief transformation officer, said the court's decision was a "positive development".The company would use the time to "finalise options, including a sale of the business" while continuing its debt restructuring plans, Mr Kabel said."We remain committed to finding the right solution that preserves EAF [electric arc furnace] steelmaking in the UK, a vital national asset serving strategic supply chains," he said."We recognise that change is essential to set the business on a positive trajectory and provide certainty for our creditors, employees and stakeholders."Mr Kabel said the company would use the time afforded by the adjournment to engage in "intensive discussions" to achieve an outcome which "best serves the strategic interests of the business".He added that the company had been involved in "complex debt restructuring" since the collapse of Greensill Capital in 2021, the principal financial backer of Liberty Steel's owner GFG Alliance. Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of steelworkers' union Community, said on Tuesday that workers had run out of patience and called for Mr Gupta to "invest in the business or step aside".Mr Rickhuss said: "Failed restructuring plans and broken promises from the company have become a familiar demoralising pattern, and things simply can't go on as they are."New, responsible ownership is needed to give the business the brighter future it needs and deserves, and that can only be achieved with a decisive change at the top."Marie Tidball, Labour MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, backed these calls, saying the Stocksbridge site needed "new, competent ownership".A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said it would "closely monitor" developments, but that it was ultimately for the company to manage commercial decisions. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Steel tycoon holds ‘urgent' talks to save UK factories from nationalisation
Steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta is holding 'urgent' talks to try and stave off the nationalisation of his plants in Rotherham and Bolton. Speciality Steel UK, part of Mr Gupta's GFG Alliance, told the High Court on Wednesday that it was holding 'urgent meetings' with an unnamed investor interested in taking over the business. The company, which makes speciality products, is facing the threat of being liquidated after a group of disgruntled suppliers that are owed money took Speciality Steel to court. However, in a dramatic twist that was agreed at the last moment, the creditors agreed to a delay in the proceedings to allow Mr Gupta to attempt to negotiate a sale. If deal talks fail, the threat of compulsory liquidation would be revived and the Rotherham and Bolton factories, which employ 1,450 people, could be nationalised. It is thought that ministers have not ruled out taking over the plants, which MPs have described as strategic national assets, but this would not be contemplated before insolvency. The Government recently stepped in to save bigger producer British Steel amid a row with its Chinese owners over plans to shut down the last blast furnaces at its plant in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire. This embedded content is not available in your region. Credit: Mark Pinder Speaking for GFG in court on Wednesday, barrister Daniel Judd told Judge Sebastian Prentis that the steel plant's owner had been working on a turnaround plan that was withdrawn last week. Since then, the company has been scrambling to examine other options. Now a 'third party investor' has emerged, Mr Judd said, adding: 'Urgent meetings have been taking place to advance this.' He added that the potential deal was also expected to benefit Speciality Steel's creditors, of which there are hundreds in total. Mr Judd told Judge Prentis: 'The business is a hugely important steel undertaking in the North East.' As a result, the judge ruled that the proceedings would be adjourned until July 16 to allow time for a potential deal to be struck. A spokesman for GFG who attended court was unable to immediately provide further details about the mystery investor. Mr Gupta's plans for restructuring Speciality Steel collapsed after he failed to secure backing from the creditors of Greensill Capital, the troubled finance provider he had previously worked closely with. The tycoon is also thought to have approached the UK Government for support but was rebuffed. The Gupta Family Group Alliance (GFG) is a conglomerate spanning energy, steel and trading, employing more than 30,000 people. Mr Gupta, its executive chairman, made a name for himself as a saviour of steel jobs by buying up troubled plants and factories around the world and vowing to revive their fortunes. He owns steelworks in England, Scotland and Wales, all of which were previously threatened with closure. But his family's business has been in trouble ever since the collapse of Greensill in 2021, which left GFG scrambling for funding. Mr Gupta also faced another blow that year when it emerged that his empire was under investigation by the UK's Serious Fraud Office. GFG has said it is cooperating.
