According to a news report by the BBC, Chinese rebar producer Jingye Group has agreed in principle to buy British Steel for £70 million ($89.6 million), saving possibly up to 4,000 jobs in the United Kingdom. The UK government will reportedly be helping the company in the form of loan guarantees and other financial support.
The BBC said that Jingye Group has promised higher output, while indicating there might be a need to cut costs. Jingye is reportedly targeting to increase production at British Steel’s Scunthorpe site from 2.5 million mt per year to more than 3 million mt.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, in August this year Turkish group Ataer Holding, a subsidiary of OYAK, the biggest complementary pension fund in Turkey, announced that it had signed an exclusivity agreement to buy British Steel. However, later in October British Steel’s Official Receiver announced that the company was willing to talk with other bidders, after Jingye Group and Liberty House expressed interest in British Steel.