LONDON (IFR) - Tata Steel has appointed Standard Chartered to help it find a buyer for its loss-making British operations.
Tata Steel Europe said on Monday it had asked Standard Chartered to work as an adviser alongside KPMG to look for interested buyers. The bank has links with Tata Group in India and is expected to be tasked with finding possible suitors in Asia, especially among Chinese steel producers.
Tata said on March 30 it was considering a sale of its UK business, including its site at Port Talbot in Wales, to prevent the closure of one of Britain's biggest manufacturing operations. It is keen to sell the UK business as a single entity.
The appointment of KPMG to run the sale process was announced on April 11. Slaughter and May was named as legal adviser.
Tata said advisers had talked with 190 "potential financial and industrial investors worldwide" in the past week, and more detailed information sharing will start this week as the process moves into the confidential phase.
Tata also announced the appointment of Bimlendra Jha, an executive of Tata Steel Europe, as chief executive officer of Tata Steel UK.
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(Reporting by Steve Slater)