Liberty House acquires Speciality Steels business from Tata Steel

International industrials and metals group Liberty House Group, London, has signed an agreement with Tata Steel UK to acquire its Speciality Steels business for £100 million ($125 million). The acquired facilities make high-value steel for the aerospace, automotive and oil and gas industries.

The two companies began exclusive discussions on the sale of the assets in November 2016.

The assets include U.K. manufacturing facilities in Rotherham, Stocksbridge, Brinsworth and Wednesbury. The purchase also includes a service center in the U.K., as well as two service centers in China.

Combined, the Speciality Steel business has the capability to make 1.1 million tonnes of liquid steel per year from ferrous scrap at two electric arc furnaces operating at the Rotherham location. The steel feeds downstream casting, remelting and rolling processes, producing a range of high-value steels.

Liberty House operates a vertically integrated business model, ranging from the production of raw steel and aluminum through to advanced engineered products. The addition of Tata Steel’s operations will allow the company to expand its product range.

Liberty says it is working with the energy company SIMEC to deliver a Greensteel strategy, which involves recycling U.K.-generated scrap using renewable energy. The Speciality Steels acquisition is a major step forward for this strategy as it gives the group melting capacity in Britain for the first time.

Late last year Liberty created Liberty Metal Recycling Ltd. to secure ferrous scrap generated in the U.K.

Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of the Liberty House Group, says, “I am proud that we are acquiring a world-class business with a very skilled workforce and broad range of high-value products. It is one of only a handful of such operations in the world, and I am confident it will flourish within our group. Fulfilling the next key stage of our Greensteel vision is incredibly exciting. We will now be able to melt scrap steel to create high-value-added products and I hope that, in due course, we will do so using renewable power.