THE seven bidders vying to buy Tata Steel's UK business have now been revealed.

Last week Tata revealed that it would be taking seven bidders forward to the next stage of the buying process

The company began the formal sale of its UK steel plants on April 11, with thousands of jobs at risk across the UK, and more than 4,000 at risk in Port Talbot alone.

READ MORE: Government hopes to ringfence steel pension fund to make Tata Steel sale more attractive to buyers

The bidders come from around the world, and range from private equity firms with a background in turning around failing businesses to steel-making giants.

Aberavon MP Stephen Kinnock has welcomed the news that so many bidders have come forward for Tata's UK business.

He said: "The fact that there is so much interest from so many high quality companies and consortia is testament to the attractiveness of the business, and that is thanks in large part to the high-performing workforce.

"The men and women in the Port Talbot works make the best steel that money can buy, and they continue to break all production records. Moreover, the two blast furnaces in Port Talbot are at the cutting edge of steel-making, indeed they are truly a national strategic asset.

The seven bidders for Tata Steel's UK business have been revealed

By South Wales Evening Post  |  Posted: May 16, 2016

By Rebecca Jones
The seven Tata Steel bidders have been revealed.

The seven Tata Steel bidders have been revealed.
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THE seven bidders vying to buy Tata Steel's UK business have now been revealed.

Last week Tata revealed that it would be taking seven bidders forward to the next stage of the buying process

The company began the formal sale of its UK steel plants on April 11, with thousands of jobs at risk across the UK, and more than 4,000 at risk in Port Talbot alone.

READ MORE: Government hopes to ringfence steel pension fund to make Tata Steel sale more attractive to buyers

The bidders come from around the world, and range from private equity firms with a background in turning around failing businesses to steel-making giants.

Aberavon MP Stephen Kinnock has welcomed the news that so many bidders have come forward for Tata's UK business.

He said: "The fact that there is so much interest from so many high quality companies and consortia is testament to the attractiveness of the business, and that is thanks in large part to the high-performing workforce.

"The men and women in the Port Talbot works make the best steel that money can buy, and they continue to break all production records. Moreover, the two blast furnaces in Port Talbot are at the cutting edge of steel-making, indeed they are truly a national strategic asset.

Aberavon MP Stephen Kinnock

"All seven bidders offer a range of qualities and capabilities, and I hope that Tata Steel will make good on its promise to be a responsible seller. It is vital that all seven bidders are given sufficient time to assemble the best possible proposals. If that means some flexibility on deadlines, then so be it.

"Whichever bidder is successful, it will be equally vital that the UK government does its utmost to support the British steel industry. This means action (not words) on energy, business rates, procurement, and above all the government must stop blocking the European Commission's attempts to strengthen EU anti-dumping measures against illegally subsidised Chinese steel."

Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty House was the first business to publicly express an interest in taking over Tata's UK steel business. Liberty is a steel, commodities and property group.

Mr Gupta, who lives in Chepstow, but was born in Punjab, India, set up Liberty as a commodities trading business while studying economics and management at Cambridge University.

Now, Liberty is a business with a £4.2bn turnover, and employs more than 2,000 people around the world.

READ MORE: Seven bids for Tata's UK business, including Port Talbot, are to go through to the next stage

Mr Gupta's company purchased the former Alphasteel works in Newport in 2013 and re-opened production there last autumn. He also bought Tata's two rolling mills at Clydebridge and Dalzell in Scotland.

The 44-year-old businessman has said he plans to convert Port Talbot to recycling scrap steel using electric arc furnaces, and has already gone on record saying he hopes to avoid any substantial job losses if his bid for Tata is successful.

He is also on record as saying he hopes to avoid any substantial job losses if he acquires Tata Steel UK.

The bid is being backed by Australian investment bank Macquarie Capital, which will provide funding, along with the State Bank of India.

The second company to publicly reveal it was a bidder was employee-management buyout team Excalibur.

Excalibur, which is based at the Wesley Clover Innovation Centre in Newport, is proposing an employee-management buyout of Tata, with employees being offered the chance to take a stake which could amount to around 10 per cent.

Chief executive Stuart Wilkie is former site manager at Port Talbot who was given temporary leave of absence to allow him to develop the bid.

He said the company's bid was all about "maintaining primary steel making at two blast furnaces at Port Talbot".

Excalibur's bid is based on the rejected turnaround plan and focuses on returning the business to profitability.

3. Greybull Capital:

The private equity investor, which has already purchased Tata's long products division, including the steel works at Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire, has put its hat in the ring to buy Tata's UK steel business.

It was set up in 2008 by brothers Nathaniel and Marc Meyohas, who invested their family fortune.

The company's bid came as a surprise, as it was understood Greybull was only interested in buying a part of the Tata business.

Greybull's previous investments include the holiday airline Monarch and high street electronics retailer Comet.

4. Hebei Iron and Steel Group:

Hebei Iron and Steel group is the third largest steel producer in the world, and China's largest - producing 47 million tonnes in 2014 alone.

The company was former by the merger of two other steel makers in 2008.

Earlier this year, Hebei agreed to buy Serbian steel maker Zelezara Smederevo for more than £36 million.

5. JSW Steel:
JSW Steel is India's second largest steel maker, and is the only bidder currently producing steel on a large scale.

It is part of the Jindalindustrial empire which can trace its origins to the early years ofindependence.

JSWSteel emerged a decade ago with the merger of two smaller businesses, and it is now a $9 billion company with six plants.

6. Nucor:

Nucor is America's largest steel producer, and its business is based around small scale mills recycling steel from scrap using arc furnaces.

It also has an unusual pay for performance model, where employee earnings are tied to how much steel is made every day.

7. Endless:

Endless is a Leeds-based private equity investor, and it is credited with being among the UK's leading turnaround specialists.

It is known for turning around the fortunes of Crown Paint.

It has also bought Kiddicare from supermarket giant Morrisons, and Bathstore.

 

Source : southwales-eveningpost.co.uk

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