THE French government on Thursday (1) welcomed a tentative agreement between German steelmaker Saarstahl and Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Steel for the latter’s two steel plants in Eastern France.
Two weeks ago, Saarstahl had submitted bid for the plants, which had also drawn interest from Italy’s Afv Beltrame Group.
The deal seems to be a part of Liberty Steel restructuring plans as its parent group GFG Alliance has been scrambling for finance after the collapse of its main financier Greensill Capital in March.
Greensill’s burst triggered intense scrutiny of GFG’s business practices, prompting a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) probe and the firm to announce a new restructuring committee.
As part of restructuring, GFG Alliance on Monday (28) replaced Liberty Steel UK’s chief executive Jon Ferriman.
“The signing of this tentative agreement between Liberty and Saarstahl paves the way for a deal this summer,” the French finance ministry said in a statement.
“This tentative agreement still needs to be confirmed, that is why the government will see...this sale happens,” it said.
Meanwhile, global steel giant ArcellorMittal had also applied for the EU approval in June to bid for Liberty Steel’s French units.
