‘Multiple parties’ interested in British Steel

Multiple parties have been given access to the books of British Steel, according to the office handling the liquidation.

The Official Receiver said in a statement: “Good progress is being made in identifying potential buyers for British Steel.

“Multiple parties have signed non-disclosure agreements giving them access to a detailed information memorandum and virtual data-room that my team has developed to inform their bids.

“Expressions of interest are due with me by early June.”

The special managers, Hunter Kelly, Sam Woodward and Alan Hudson of EY, have made contact with more than 80 potential trade purchasers of the business.

Some 60 of those have been sent non-disclosure agreements, the Official Receiver said.

Meanwhile, British Steel is continuing to trade and retains “good support from its customers”, they added.

“I would like to thank the workforce for their ongoing support. All staff have been retained and continue to be paid.”

British Steel was placed into compulsory liquidation on 22 May, putting up to 25,000 jobs at risk.

The insolvency process, first revealed by Sky’s City editor Mark Kleinman, followed a failure by British Steel’s owners, Greybull Capital, to secure additional funding from the government.

Ministers had, earlier in May, granted a £120m loan to cover the cost of an EU carbon bill.

British Steel had been seeking an additional £30m bailout as the company grappled disruption to its business from Brexit and the threat posed by cheap steel from China.

(c) Sky News 2019: ‘Multiple parties’ interested in British Steel