Tata offloads Scunthorpe as steel sale starts

Tata Steel has formally raised the For Sale sign over its British steel interests after striking a separate deal to sell steelworks in Scunthorpe and other plants in Teesside to Greybull Capital.

The Indian group has sent sales documents to potential buyers for a quick sale of the extra bits of the firm, which includes the Port Talbot facility, after agreeing a sale of Scunthorpe.

“It is the intention of Tata Steel Europe to run a thorough, but expedited sale process by reaching out to a wide universe of potential investors globally”, the firm said.

KPMG and Slaughter and May have been appointed to handle the deal. The business has attracted the attention of Sanjeev Gupta’s commodity firm Liberty House, which is examining a bid.

Greybull will pay a nominal sum for the Scunthorpe site, two mills in Teesside, and other sites in Workington, York and a mill in northern France. It is reportedly lining up a £400m investment package to turnaround the plant

This makes up Tata’s steel long products Europe business, which employs 4,400 people.