UK begins talks with potential Tata Steel buyers

The British government opened talks yesterday with potential buyers for Tata Steel's UK operations, including Sanjeev Gupta's commodities company Liberty Group, as it stepped up its battle to find a buyer for the loss-making business.

Accused by opposition lawmakers of being "asleep at the wheel" when India's Tata Steel put its entire British operations up for sale last week, prime minister David Cameron also met ministers to discuss the options for a business which employs 15,000 people.

Britain's business minister Sajid Javid met Mr Gupta in London to establish how firm his interest was in the business. He was later due to fly to Mumbai to meet Tata chairman Cyrus Mistry to agree the process for a sale.

Mr Gupta, who has bought other distressed steel assets in Britain, said the meeting was “positive” and the government was “highly supportive” and “actively engaged” in finding a long-term solution.

“The next step is for Tata to define the formal sales process and request indications of interest from potential buyers,” he said in a statement after the meeting.

The government has not said which other potential buyers it has met but Mr Javid told Sky News "where the buyers are coming forward, we're ready to work with them". Mr Gupta's Liberty Group is a metals company with assets in Asia, Africa and Britain.

Due diligence

He has not yet carried out due diligence on the business, which includes the huge Port Talbot plant in south Wales, but said that site could be saved if the giant blast furnaces were replaced with facilities to process imported slab steel into higher-grade product or make steel from scrap metal rather than iron ore.

Carwyn Jones, the first minister of Wales, said the government appeared willing to discuss solutions for the firm’s pension deficit, structural challenges and high energy costs that prompted Tata to walk away.

Britain has shed thousands of jobs from the sector in recent years due to high costs and historically low steel prices. – (Reuters)