Liberty Steel to sell Stocksbridge site as Gupta seeks to pay off creditors
Liberty Steel said today that it would sell of its Stocksbridge aerospace and special alloys steel business as part of restructuring plans.
The sale will help Liberty to pay off its debts to Credit Suisse, one of its main creditors.
The metals group, part of billionaire Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance, has been scrambling to find new financing since the collapse of boutique bank Greensill in March.
In a statement, the firm, which employs about 3,000 people in the UK, said that the asset was not “core” to Liberty Steel’s vision.
“This sale will allow Liberty to focus on developing its Rotherham plant including its electric arc furnaces into a competitive 2m tonnes recycled Greensteel plant, one of the largest in Europe”, it added.
A formal sale process will be opened soon, it was added.
The firm is currently in discussions with the lender over a standstill agreement for its Liberty Primary Metals Australia business while it completes its refinancing.
The announcement comes after it was reported that Indian steel giant JSW was mulling a bid for Liberty’s UK assets.
Ministers have come under pressure to prop up the ailing business, but have said they will not act until Gupta has exhausted attempts to refinance the business.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has also begun a probe into the company.