On Thursday 8th October Tata Steel UK reportedly denied all speculation around a potential takeover bid from Chinese steelmaker Jingye Group.
According to information available with BusinessLive, Jingye’s interest in Tata Steel is “speculative and untrue” and that the company is still in talks with the UK government over potential bailout schemes.
For the last few months there has been heavy speculation over the closure of Tata Steel UK’s outlets, which employs 8,000 in Wales and around 4,000 at its primary steelmaking operation at Port Talbot. Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of Liberty Steel Group, has also expressed his interest in an acquisition of the Port Talbot steelworks earlier. Liberty Steel, part of the GFG Alliance owned by the Gupta family, was one of a number of bidders for Tata’s UK steel business back in 2016, before the sales process was abandoned.
The Indian loss-making subsidiary of Tata Steel Europe however remains in regular talks with the UK Government over a financial lifeline of £500m, it has been confirmed.
Tata then pursued a joint venture of its European steel business with German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp, before that was dissolved last year.
