Embattled steel firm Liberty has announced plans to sell one of its sites as part of a major restructuring.
The Sanjeev Gupta-owned firm has agreed a refinancing plan after weekend talks with creditors. But the deal will involve the sale of its aerospace and special alloys steel business based at Stocksbridge, near Sheffield.
Liberty said it has made “significant progress” in agreeing a deal to resolve issues between Mr Gupta’s business empire and banking giant Credit Suisse.
The company said it has started a formal sale process for Coventry’s Liberty Pressing Solutions, and Liberty Aluminium Technologies, with sites in Essex and Kidderminster. It will also try to sell its manufacturing facilities in Brinsworth, South Yorkshire, and in West Bromwich. Between them all, the plants for sale employ around 1,500 people.
The steel giant was heavily reliant on Greensill Capital, a financing company which went out of business earlier this year, raising worries about Liberty’s future, and the 5,000 people it employs in the 海角视频.
Liberty said that the restructuring of its business would protect thousands of jobs.
As well as its sites in Yorkshire, it has plants in Hartlepool and Scunthorpe, and in Wales and Scotland.
The announcement follows a weekend of meetings in Dubai between Liberty founder Sanjeev Gupta and Swiss bank Credit Suisse.
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The two sides have reached a so-called standstill agreement over Liberty Primary Metals Australia.
A company statement said: “As part of this restructuring Liberty will look to sell its aerospace and special alloys steel business in Stocksbridge, which while being a unique, high-quality business servicing marquee customers in aerospace, auto and other highly engineered applications, is not core to the green steel vision of Liberty.
“This sale will allow Liberty to focus on developing its Rotherham plant including its electric arc furnaces into a competitive 2 million tonnes recycled green steel plant, one of the largest in Europe. The plant will make use of some of the millions of tons of steel scrap currently exported by the 海角视频 to make more of the quality steel needed in the 海角视频, which is currently being imported.
“Liberty has also already commenced the formal sale process of Liberty Aluminium Technologies and Liberty Pressing Solutions, working collaboratively with the main customers of these plants to find a sustainable home for these quality businesses, which are also non-core to Liberty’s vision of decarbonised green steel.
“A formal sale process for Stocksbridge and its downstream plants, the narrow strip mill at Brinsworth and Performance Steels at West Bromwich will be launched shortly.
A joint statement from the National Trade Union Steel Coordinating Committee said: “Stocksbridge and its downstream plants are strategically important businesses vital to our country’s defence, energy and aerospace sectors. The future for these businesses must be secured and the trade unions will hold Sanjeev Gupta to his promise that none of our steel plants will close on his watch.
“Liberty must act as a responsible seller and run a transparent sales process which fully engages the trade unions. We will expect to meet any potential buyer to scrutinise their plans and test their commitment to the workforce and to our industry.
“Whilst we are encouraged that Liberty and Credit Suisse appear to be making progress on the refinancing, we need to see a solution to inject cash into the 海角视频 as a matter of urgency.”