RE: British Steel’s Chinese owner sets sights on Gupta’s UK plants19 May 2021 22:33
"The Chinese owner of British Steel is interested in buying Sanjeev Gupta’s UK steel plants, setting up a potential geopolitical dilemma for Boris Johnson’s government.
Jingye Group, which acquired British Steel in late 2019, has told government officials it is willing to step in to take on parts of Gupta’s Liberty Steel, the UK’s third-largest producer, if the industrialist fails to find fresh funding, according to several people familiar with the matter.
Liberty Steel employs about 3,000 people across the country, including 1,600 at three sites in Yorkshire, which produce high-grade speciality steel for aerospace and defence customers.
Jingye “wants to set up an empire in the UK and there have already been discussions with government”, said one person familiar with the Chinese company’s thinking, while stressing that talks remain at an exploratory stage.
One official confirmed that the government was talking to Jingye. “They have expressed an interest in Liberty assets in the future,” he said. “However, it is not the government’s job to be playing matchmaker at this stage.”
GFG on Wednesday said it was making progress in the refinancing, and Gupta has previously vowed that the UK steel plants will not close under his watch.
In the event Liberty collapses, the Johnson government does not want to nationalise its assets. However, ministers have indicated that they are prepared to use the playbook by which British Steel was rescued two years ago.
The government indemnified the Official Receiver for almost a year — at a cost of £600m — meaning taxpayers covered losses at the business until it was sold to Jingye in November 2019."
https://www.ft.com/content/8f351cff-72a9-420b-b4d5-f74227cb4b67
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