Tata Steel Europe sells Cogent Power to Japan's JFE Shoji Trade Corporation

Tata Steel Europe on Monday said it has signed a deal with Japanese steel giant JFE Shoji Trade Corporation for selling its subsidiary Cogent Power Inc (CPI).

However, Tata Steel did not provide any financial details of the deal.

CPI is part of Cogent Electrical Steels, one of the five non-core business units, the sale of which Tata Steel Europe had announced in May 2018, according to a company statement.

Other non-core businesses under potential sales consideration were Gearmany-based Kalzip; UK-based Firsteel; Turkey-based Tata Steel Istanbul Metals; UK-based Engineering Steels Service Centre.

"Tata Steel has signed a sales and purchase agreement (SPA) for Cogent Power Inc (CPI), with Japanese steel giant JFE Shoji Trade Corporation," the company said.

CPI manufactures cores for electrical distribution transformers and employs nearly 300 people.

Cogent Electrical Steels comprises Orb Electrical Steels, Newport, South Wales; Cogent Power Inc, Burlington, Canada; and Surahammars Bruks AB, Surahammar, Sweden.

While Tata Steel managed to sign a sales and purchase agreement for Cogent Power Inc, it has decided to retain advanced steel maker Surahammars Bruks AB which employs 100 people, and proposes to close Orb Electrical Steels, the statement said.

The closure of Orb Electrical Steels will lead to a potential loss of up to 380 jobs, it added.

Its Orb Electrical Steels business has been loss-making for several years and converting the site to create steels for future electric vehicle production would cost in excess of 50 million pounds in a highly competitive market, Tata Steel said.