UK-based Liberty Steel, a subsidiary of GFG Alliance, has stated that Sanjeev Gupta, the owner of GFG Alliance, and his newly-formed Restructuring and Transformation Committee are in discussions with Credit Suisse Asset Management (CS) to pause court proceedings against GFG Alliance’s Australian business. In April, CS filed an insolvency application against GFG’s Australian business, claiming it indirectly provided funding to GFG through UK-based financial services company Greensill Capital which has gone bankrupt. Meanwhile, the company’s refinancing that will repay the debt to CS has been completed.
Regarding the refinancing of Liberty Steel’s UK operations, the company said it plans to sell its aerospace and special alloys steel business in Stocksbridge. This sale will allow the company to focus on developing its Rotherham plant including its electric arc furnaces into a Greensteel plant with a capacity of two million mt. The plant will make use of some of the millions of tons of steel scrap currently exported by the UK to make more of the quality steel needed in the UK, which is currently being imported, Liberty Steel indicated.
