Tata Steel UK has completed the sale of its Specialty Steels business to Liberty House Group for a total consideration of £100 million.
The sale covers several South Yorkshire-based assets including the electric arc steel works and bar mill at Rotherham, the steel purifying facility in Stocksbridge and a mill in Brinsworth as well as service centres in Bolton and Wednesbury, UK, and in Suzhou and Xian, China.
Speciality Steels directly employs about 1,700 people making steels for the aerospace, automotive and the oil & gas industries, an official statement issued on Tuesday said.
“As a responsible owner, Tata SteelBSE -0.02 % in the last couple of years has undertaken a transformation plan at Speciality Steels, including investing in a state-of- the-art vacuum induction melting furnace, to ensure the business can have a sustainable future,” Bimlendra Jha, CEO of Tata Steel UK, said.
Tata Steel UK also said it has recently completed a consultation with its employees on proposals to structurally reduce risks in its wider UK business. It is also in discussions with the British Steel Pension Scheme trustees and Pension Regulator to develop a structural solution for its UK pension scheme in the coming months.
Tata Steel’s UK business continues its process of transformation that is essential to create a viable future for its UK strip products business. Tata Steel’s strip products business will continue to employ almost 8,500 people in the UK, manufacturing products for sectors like the automotive and construction industries.
Tata Steel, which has invested £1.5 billion in its UK business since acquiring Corus in 2007, said its new investments to improve manufacturing capability will help produce premium steels in Shotton, Llanwern, Trostre, and Orb in Newport, as well as environmental schemes for Port Talbot’s power plant.
Investments in packaging steels, electrical steels, an automotive finishing line, laser welding and next-generation coated products support the company’s focus on making differentiated and advanced steel products for key manufacturers in the UK and elsewhere.
Source: Economic Times