Tata Steel considers alternatives for sale of specialty units

Tata Steel has decided to cancel the sale of its assets in the country after months of negotiation with worker unions and the UK Government.

The company in its board meeting decided not to divest majority of its UK steel business because of the Brexit uncertainty.

However, the company has now entered into preliminary talks with Germany's Thyssenkrupp for a joint venture.

The success of the joint venture depends on the outcome of talks with British trade unions, government policy support and developments on workers' pension schemes, the company said.

Tata Steel intends to cut costs by 100 million euros as it goes ahead with continuing business in the UK.

Earlier in March, the company had announced the sale of its entire UK business, which employs about 15,000 workers.

The business is part of the Corus acquisition that Tata undertook in 2007. Back then, the company said that a turnaround plan was unaffordable.

The announcement came after UK's business secretary Sajid Javid met Tata Steel representatives in Mumbai earlier on Friday to discuss the future of the company's UK assets.