Reports: Deal Close for Tata Steel Mills in Scotland
03/22/2016 - Sanjeev Gupta, founder and executive chairman of a metals trading firm that partially re-opened an idled steel mill last year, is close to adding two other facilities to the company’s production portfolio, reports The Guardian newspaper.
According to The Guardian, Gupta’s firm, Liberty House, is expected to soon announce that it is acquiring idled Tata Steel Europe facilities in Scotland – the Dalzell plate mill and the associated Clydebridge processing plant.
Gupta told the newspaper he can’t discuss details of the discussions with Tata, but he said a deal would be the beginning of a plan to build a sustainable U.K. steel sector.
“To reform the U.K. steel industry, which is probably the worst in the world, is a herculean task. But I am betting on it. I’m dedicating myself 100 percent to it,” he told the newspaper.
The Guardian has more from its interview with Gupta here.
Liberty last year resumed rolling operations at a mothballed mill in Wales, renaming the former Mir Steel facility Liberty Steel Newport. The company has plans to restart the facility’s meltshop, which remains idled.
That may be a project for Liberty Steel’s new chief executive, Virinder Bahadur Garg, who took the reins of the business on 1 March.
Garg, 50, was lured away from his job as the chief of marketing and sales at ArcelorMittal’s flagship Ukrainian plant at Kryviy Rih, according to reports.
“We have big ambitions for our steel operations in the U.K., and we are very pleased to have recruited someone of VB’s experience and caliber to lead the business into the next phase of its expansion,” Gupta said in a statement.
“Steel is a global business and his direct experience, which encompasses no fewer than 75 countries, will be invaluable to us in building a profitable and sustainable enterprise here.”
Gupta told the newspaper he can’t discuss details of the discussions with Tata, but he said a deal would be the beginning of a plan to build a sustainable U.K. steel sector.
“To reform the U.K. steel industry, which is probably the worst in the world, is a herculean task. But I am betting on it. I’m dedicating myself 100 percent to it,” he told the newspaper.
The Guardian has more from its interview with Gupta here.
Liberty last year resumed rolling operations at a mothballed mill in Wales, renaming the former Mir Steel facility Liberty Steel Newport. The company has plans to restart the facility’s meltshop, which remains idled.
That may be a project for Liberty Steel’s new chief executive, Virinder Bahadur Garg, who took the reins of the business on 1 March.
Garg, 50, was lured away from his job as the chief of marketing and sales at ArcelorMittal’s flagship Ukrainian plant at Kryviy Rih, according to reports.
“We have big ambitions for our steel operations in the U.K., and we are very pleased to have recruited someone of VB’s experience and caliber to lead the business into the next phase of its expansion,” Gupta said in a statement.
“Steel is a global business and his direct experience, which encompasses no fewer than 75 countries, will be invaluable to us in building a profitable and sustainable enterprise here.”
