At last, British workers need not steel themselves for job losses as there is some ray of hope to revive the Tata Steel crisis in the UK.
Tatas have announced the sale of its Scunthorpe plant to Greybull Capital. The Long Products Europe business was sold to the British investment firm for a token £1 on Monday. The move will save a third of the 15,000 jobs placed in jeopardy by the Indian conglomerate's decision to sell up in Britain.
Long Products Europe division in Scunthorpe, northern England, employs 4,400 workers.
Greybull said it was arranging a £400m investment package as part of the deal. The business will be rebranded as British Steel once the deal is completed in eight weeks, it said.
The new business would include the Scunthorpe works, two mills in Teesside, an engineering workshop in Workington, a design consultancy in York, a mill in Hayange, France, and sales and distribution facilities.
Greybull partner Marc Meyohas said Greybull had not ruled out buying other parts of Tata's UK steel business, according to a report on BBC website.
However, the future of the big Port Talbot Steelworks in Wales is still up in the air, although at least one potential buyer has expressed an interest in buying the plant. The government has resisted calls from unions and opposition politicians to nationalise the Talbot plant to save thousands of jobs.
British Business Secretary Sajid Javid said the government would consider co-investing with a private sector partner to help save the Talbot plant.
“I've been in contact with potential buyers, making clear that the government stands ready to help,” Javid told the Commons. “This includes looking at the possibility of co-investing with a buyer on commercial terms.”
Unions have welcomed the deal.
The Scunthorpe plant sale comes at a time when European steelmakers are struggling to survive amid a wave of cheap imports from China.
