Tata Steel UK sells its speciality steel business to Liberty House

Kolkata, May 2 (IANS) : Tata Steel UK on Tuesday said it has completed the sale of its speciality steel business to Liberty House Group for 100 million pounds.
The sale includes several South Yorkshire-based assets including the electric arc steelworks 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 Xi’an, China. “As a responsible owner, Tata Steel in the last couple of years has undertaken a transformation plan at speciality steels, including investing in vacuum induction melting furnace, to ensure the business can have a sustainable future.“We thank the employees, trade unions and management for their diligent hard work in the journey to turn around the business in difficult times and we wish them a successful future under new ownership,” said the company’s CEO Bimlendra Jha.
The speciality steel directly employs about 1,700 people making steel for the aerospace, automotive and the oil and gas industries.
The steel producer 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 the Pension Regulator to develop a structural solution for its UK pension scheme in the coming months,” the company said.
Tata Steel’s UK business continues its process of transformation that is essential to create a viable future for its UK strip products business.

Its strip products business will continue to employ almost 8,500 people in the UK, manufacturing products for sectors like the automotive and construction industries, it added.

The steel maker invested 1.5 billion pounds in its UK business since acquiring Corus in 2007.