Tata Steel UK selling Speciality business to Liberty

Tata Steel UK on Monday announced signing a letter of intent with the London-based international business group Liberty House to sell its Speciality Steels business for 100 million pounds (Rs 854 crore/$124 million).

"The letter of intent covers several South Yorkshire-based assets, including the Rotherham electric arc steelworks, the steel purifying facility in Stockbridge and a mill in Brinsworth, besides service centres in Bolton and Wednesbury in Britain and in Suzhou and Xian in China," the British arm of India's largest private sector steel firm said in a statement here.

Speciality Steels employs about 1,700 people, making steel for the aerospace, automotive and oil and gas industries.

"As the Speciality Steels business is independent of the pan-European strip products supply chain, its sale is in line with the restructuring strategy of our UK portfolio," said Bimlendra Jha, Chief Executive of Tata Steel in the statement.

Tata Steel UK has invested 1.5 billion pounds (Rs 12,798 crore) over the last nine years and 85 million pounds this year covering a range of sustenance and improvement schemes.

"We continue to seek solutions to the company's structural challenges and work with all stakeholders. Among those challenges, there is the need to develop a more sustainable business in Britain and a self-sustaining future for the British Steel Pension Scheme," said Jha.

The steel major will work with Liberty on the due diligence for concluding the sale.

"We will also work with trade unions and communicate to its employees on the deal on an ongoing basis," the statement added.