Sell-off reports steel Corus shares

SHAREHOLDERS in Corus received a much-needed boost on talk that the stricken Anglo-Dutch steelmaker may sell assets to LNM - a rival owned by Labour Party donor Lakshmi Mittal.

Corus, up 1.7p at 8.71p, needs cash to help it pay for the closure of its lossmaking UK steel operations. It had hoped to raise the money by selling its aluminium side, but was plunged into financial crisis when its Dutch arm blocked the deal. The shares have collapsed from 90p since the crisis.

The company declined to comment on reports that chairman Sir Brian Moffat had discussed the possibility of Mittal buying the group's profitable Ijmuiden plant in the Netherland or one of its three UK mills.

The Indian businessman was embroiled in a political storm early last year after the Government helped him buy steel assets in Romania, at about the same time as he donated the Labour Party £125,000. He says the two events were unconnected.