British Steel receives late bid from unnamed industrial consortium
An unnamed industrial consortium, which includes a leading UK civil engineering company operating in West Africa, has made a last-minute bid to acquire the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe.
The British-West African consortium submitted a late offer to the government to re-establish the international trade credentials of the site.
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It is the latest consortium to make a move for the steel supplier after it fell into administration 11 weeks ago.
The offer is currently under consideration by EY, which was appointed as administrator by the government, a spokesperson for the group confirmed.
The group has long-term plans for a large scale infrastructure project in West Africa and would export steel from Scunthope to the project, if its bid is successful.
British Steel would enable the group to deliver its project over the next 10 years, although the consortium is also considering taking on other sites around Europe to facilitate its demand for steel.
There are other offers for British Steel on the table, however.
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A Turkish military pension fund has offered to save the steelworks and provide security for its 4,000 workers, while there is another offer from Liberty House, an UK-based industrial conglomerate.
Administrators at EY did not immediately respond to request for comment.