Tata Steel UK today said it has completed the sale of its Speciality Steels business, which employs 1,700 workers, to Liberty House Group for 100 million pound.
Liberty said it will not only protect the 1,700 existing jobs but also create 300 new ones and invest multi-million pounds in the venture.
The acquisition will make Liberty one of the largest steel and engineering employers in the UK with over 4,500 workers.
"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," Tata Steel said in a statement.
Speciality Steels makes products for aerospace, automotive and oil and gas industries.
Tata Steel UK CEO Bimlendra Jha said that in the last couple of years, Tata Steel has been undertaking a transformation plan at the Speciality Steels division.
It included investment in the state-of-the-art vacuum induction melting furnace to ensure that the business has a sustainable future, he added.
The company said it had recently completed consultation with its employees on proposals to structurally reduce risks in its wider UK business.
Discussions are also on with the British steel pension scheme trustees and pension regulator to develop a structural solution for its UK pension scheme in coming months, the company added.
For the UK strip product business, the company said it continues the process of transformation that is essential to create a viable future.
Tata Steel's strip product business will continue to employ almost 8,500 people in the UK, manufacturing products for sectors like automotive and construction industries.
Tata Steel has invested 1.5 billion pound in its UK business since acquiring Corus in 2007. These include improvement of manufacturing capability for production of premium steels in Shotton, Llanwern, Trostre, and Orb in Newport as well as environmental schemes for Port Talbot's power plant.
In February, the global steel giant had inked a pact to sell its Speciality Steels business.
The completion of the transaction was subject to regulatory clearances, the company had said then. It had also said the parties would be working to complete consultation with employees and transfer of supplier and customer contracts.
Liberty House Group said it would be creating around 300 new steel jobs in South Yorkshire and making multi-million pound investments including 20 million pound in the first face to secure the future of five sites across the North of England and West Midlands.
It also announced expansion plans expected to generate an additional 300 production jobs in the business.
It said production from the arc furnaces is expected to rise to over a million tonnes per annum and there are plans for the bar mill to roll over 400,000 tonnes a year.
In addition the business will grow its position in the aerospace markets, utilising recent capital investments at Stocksbridge and investing in additional capacity and new technology, it said.
The acquisition gives the Group the largest arc furnace capacity in the UK, a key component in its plan to increase low-carbon steel production based on recycling metal in furnaces powered by renewable energy.
As part of the GREENSTEEL strategy, Liberty's sister company SIMEC is actively considering investment in bio-diesel power generation at Speciality Steel sites.
Liberty's Executive Chairman Sanjeev Gupta said: "Today marks a step change for the Liberty House Group because we are taking on strategically important capacity that will drive expansion in the years ahead. It will help us achieve our GREENSTEEL vision and facilitate investment in engineering products, thereby reducing the supply-chain gaps in the UK, especially in automotive and aerospace sectors."
He said the by investing to acquire Speciality Steels, Liberty Group is casting a big vote of confidence in the future of British industry.
Jon Bolton, who has been appointed chief executive of Liberty Speciality Steels, explained that the business already had a strong market reputation thanks to a combination of advanced equipment capability and a skilled and motivated workforce.
He said: "Through increased output and improved positions in the UK, North American and EU markets, the business can improve its competitiveness and re-establish itself as a global force in the supply of engineering steels.
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