Liberty Steel owner Gupta says huge amount of interest from new financiers

LIBERTY STEEL'S Sanjeev Gupta on Thursday (1) said there is a huge interest from new financiers to back the struggling steelmaker.

After Liberty Steel's major financier Greensill Capital collapsed, Gupta has requested other creditors not to pull the plug with thousand of jobs in the UK at stake.

Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance employs a total of 5,000 people in the UK – 3,000 of them in steel and aluminium businesses across 12 UK sites.

“Actually we have a huge amount of interest from new financiers who are willing to back us, who are willing to refinance Greensill,” Gupta told the BBC.

“Given the situation, this sort of thing takes time and hence we need to find short-term solutions.”

He said there has been positive discussions with Grant Thornton, the administrator for Greensill.

“It makes no sense for them or any of the creditors to destroy jobs, but more importantly to destroy value because that is the value which will give them the recovery,” Gupta said.

His company owed “many billions” of pounds to Greensill, but he expected other financiers to back him in this time of crisis.

“It is many billions, but also remember that we are one of the largest steel companies in the world, a very substantial aluminium business, and a substantial renewable energy business so it should be reflected in that light,” Gupta said.

He also said that none of the steel plants would close on his watch. “None of our steel plants under my watch will be shut down.”