Greybull Capital: Investment firm plans to make former Tata Scunthorpe plant one of the world’s leading steelmaking centres
One of the three bosses at Greybull Capital, Marc Meyohas, has pledged to put the ailing Scunthorpe steel plant "back on the map as one of the world's leading steelmaking centres".
The London-based investment firm bought the Scunthorpe works from Tata Steel last Monday as part of a wider purchase of Tata's European Long Products business. Greybull first entered discussions to buy the division in December.
The investment group acquired the 2,000-acre site in Scunthorpe, as well as other facilities in the UK and France, in the nominal £1 deal, and announced it will rename the new company British Steel.
Speaking to the Scunthorpe Telegraph, Meyohas also said Greybull believes the new business can "flourish and be viable" and that no further job losses are anticipated.
British Steel deal
Greybull's takeover deal is expected to complete within eight weeks. As part of the deal, Greybull is arranging a £400m investment and financing package for the new business, provided by a combination of banks and shareholders.
While the existing management team will stay on and run the Scunthorpe plant, the search for a permanent chief executive is underway to head the former Long Products arm. Around 4,800 people (including 4,400 in the UK and 400 in France) are employed by the division.
According to the Scunthorpe Telegraph, the break-even point for the steelworks came after Scunthorpe-based trade unions agreed to a pay freeze for 2016-17, an abolishment of bonus payments not related to profit and an abolishment of the final salary pension scheme.
On 19 April, a ballot among Scunthorpe's steelworkers will decide whether they will accept a one-year pay cut of three per cent.