Tata Steel UK completes sale of Specialty Steels business to Liberty House

Tata Steel UK yesterday said that it has completed the sale of its specialty steels business to Liberty House Group for £100 million.

In February, Tata Steel UK signed a deal to sell its Speciality Steels division to Liberty House for a total consideration of £100 million ($126 million) as part of restructuring of its European operations. (See: Tata Steel UK to sell Speciality Steels division to Liberty House for $126 mn)The sale covers several South Yorkshire-based assets, including the electric arc steelworks and bar mill at Rotherham, the steel purifying facility in Stocksbridge and a mill in Brinsworth as well as service centres in Bolton and Wednesbury, UK and in Suzhou and Xi'an, China.

The Speciality Steels division employs 1,700 people, mostly in South Yorkshire in the north of England,

This division is one of the world's biggest suppliers to the aerospace industry, with customers that include Rolls-Royce, Boeing and Airbus, and the automotive and oil and gas industries.

Tata Steel, Britain's largest steelmaker, has invested £1.5 billion in the UK business since acquiring Corus Steel in 2007. This includes £85 million invested this year on a range of sustenance and improvement schemes.

"As a responsible owner, Tata Steel in the last couple of years has undertaken a transformation plan at Speciality Steels, including investing in a state-of- the-art vacuum induction melting furnace, to ensure the business can have a sustainable future," said, Bimlendra Jha, CEO of Tata Steel UK.

Tata Steel UK said it has recently completed a consultation with its employees on proposals to structurally reduce risks in its wider UK business. It is also in discussions with the British Steel Pension Scheme trustees and Pension Regulator to develop a structural solution for its UK pension scheme in the coming months.