Jobs at a Bolton steel distribution centre could be saved after a tycoon stepped in with a last minute rescue deal.
Collapsed steel firm Aartee Bright Bar is set to be merged with Liberty Steel Group Sanjeev Gupta bought the company.
GFG Alliance, owned by Mr Gupta and his family, has bought Aartee and filed an application to challenge the administration.
The rescue deal comes after Aartee, the UK’s largest distributor of engineering steel products and a key customer of Mr Gupta’s Liberty Steel, called in administrators Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) earlier this month.
Aartee Bright Bar collapses into administration
The business blamed tough economic conditions and surging metal costs for the downfall.
Aartee Bright Bar has around 250 workers at its premises in Farnworth, as well as in offices in Newport, Wales and Rugby, Warwickshire and production sites in Dudley and Willenhall, both of which are in the West Midlands.
GFG said it wants to restart operations in a bid to save the firm’s 250 staff.
Over time, the business would be integrated into Liberty’s operations.
Jeffrey Kabel, the chief transformation officer at GFG, said: “Aartee is a significant part of the UK’s steel supply chain and distribution network, and a key customer for GFG’s bar products produced in Rotherham by Liberty.
“Our rescue plan would save 250 viable steel jobs in the West Midlands and across the UK.
“Over time, Aartee’s business would be integrated into Liberty’s operations helping to reinforce our UK transformation plan focused on producing specialist steel products.”
The steelworkers’ union, Community, said the rescue deal is good news for workers and that Aartee seems a “natural fit” for GFG, which has about 35,000 staff in 10 countries.
Alun Davies, Community’s national officer, said: “The news of GFG Alliance’s purchase of Aartee Bright Bar is very encouraging.
“Aartee seems a natural fit for GFG and the acquisition can safeguard jobs and important steel assets.
“While we await further details about GFG’s plans for Aartee, this development will, no doubt, be welcomed by both the Aartee workforce as well as those working across the supply chain.”
Last week, Mr Davies said that Government negligence is to blame for the firm’s collapse, having failed to act on issues like energy costs and procurement.
He said it reflects the extreme pressures the industry is under, with thousands of jobs reliant on the future of the sector.
It follows reports earlier this month that British Steel is planning to axe hundreds of jobs as part of closures of its coke ovens in Scunthorpe, according to a union source.
GFG’s application to challenge administration is being supported by a majority of business creditors, it said.
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