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Steel: Liberty to submit bid for Tata's UK business | Steel: Liberty to submit bid for Tata's UK business |
(about 13 hours later) | |
Liberty House plans to submit a formal bid on Tuesday to buy Tata Steel's UK assets, which include the Port Talbot works employing about 4,000 people. | Liberty House plans to submit a formal bid on Tuesday to buy Tata Steel's UK assets, which include the Port Talbot works employing about 4,000 people. |
Liberty, headed by Sanjeev Gupta, was first to express an interest in the assets when they were put up for sale. | Liberty, headed by Sanjeev Gupta, was first to express an interest in the assets when they were put up for sale. |
A spokesman for Liberty told the BBC that the firm had put together a team of advisers and financial backers. | A spokesman for Liberty told the BBC that the firm had put together a team of advisers and financial backers. |
"The formal process is to submit a letter of intent; it amounts to a bid. It will be done on Tuesday," he said. | "The formal process is to submit a letter of intent; it amounts to a bid. It will be done on Tuesday," he said. |
In addition to the Port Talbot factory - the UK's largest steelworks - Tata's remaining assets include sites at Newport, where more than 1,300 people are employed, and Rotherham, which employs 1,200. Tata also has operations at Corby, Shotton and Teesside. | In addition to the Port Talbot factory - the UK's largest steelworks - Tata's remaining assets include sites at Newport, where more than 1,300 people are employed, and Rotherham, which employs 1,200. Tata also has operations at Corby, Shotton and Teesside. |
Macquarie, the Australian bank, was advising Liberty on a potential bid, and is considered a potential financial backer of any takeover. | Macquarie, the Australian bank, was advising Liberty on a potential bid, and is considered a potential financial backer of any takeover. |
What is Liberty House? | |
Liberty House started life in the university room of Indian-born founder Sanjeev Gupta. | |
While a student at Cambridge University in 1992, the budding entrepreneur started what has since become a global steel and commodities business with annual sales of more than £2bn. | |
With operations in 30 countries, and headquarters in London, Dubai, and Singapore, Mr Gupta's Liberty has also emerged as a possible saviour of Britain's steel industry. | |
Liberty's focus is on recycling the mountains of scrap metal generated in the UK, rather than the historical method of producing steel in blast furnaces. | |
Last month, it acquired Tata Steel's plants in Lanarkshire. In recent years, it has reached similar deals for steel plants in Newport and the Black Country. | |
£1m-a-day losses | £1m-a-day losses |
A management buyout team is also planning to submit a bid under the name Excalibur Steel UK Limited. | A management buyout team is also planning to submit a bid under the name Excalibur Steel UK Limited. |
It has appointed investment banker Mark Rhydderch-Roberts as a non-executive director. He joins Stuart Wilkie, the head of Tata's United Kingdom strip steel business, and former Alcan senior executive and venture capitalist Roger Maggs, on the board. | It has appointed investment banker Mark Rhydderch-Roberts as a non-executive director. He joins Stuart Wilkie, the head of Tata's United Kingdom strip steel business, and former Alcan senior executive and venture capitalist Roger Maggs, on the board. |
The government has promised to support any buyer of the business by taking up to a 25% stake in a new business and making hundreds of millions of pounds of finance available. | The government has promised to support any buyer of the business by taking up to a 25% stake in a new business and making hundreds of millions of pounds of finance available. |
Tata has not publicly set a deadline for any deal, but has made it clear it cannot sustain its £1m-a-day losses indefinitely and does not want to prolong the uncertainty for workers and customers. | Tata has not publicly set a deadline for any deal, but has made it clear it cannot sustain its £1m-a-day losses indefinitely and does not want to prolong the uncertainty for workers and customers. |
Tata's Scunthorpe operation, which employs more than 3,000 people, has been sold to investment firm Greybull Capital for a nominal £1. | Tata's Scunthorpe operation, which employs more than 3,000 people, has been sold to investment firm Greybull Capital for a nominal £1. |