The dismantling of Sanjeev Gupta’s British business empire is accelerating after advisers were hired to find a buyer for a steel production business which supplies oil giants including BP and Shell.
Sky News has learnt that Liberty Steel’s Hartlepool-based steel pipes unit, which employs about 170 people, is hunting a buyer within weeks.
Industry sources said that BTG Advisory, also known as Begbies Traynor, had been hired to handle the sale process.
Prospective buyers have been sounded out in recent days.
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The Liberty Pipes business, which also counts Equinor among its customers, has been loss-making in recent years.
It is part of Mr Gupta’s Liberty Steel Group, which in turn is owned by the embattled businessman’s GFG Alliance.
Last summer, the bulk of his British operations, known as Speciality Steel UK (SSUK), were placed into liquidation after a judge ruled them to be “hopelessly insolvent”.
A sale process being overseen by the Official Receiver is well underway and has drawn interest from more than a handful of parties.
These include Arabian Gulf Steel Industries, Sky News reported this month, while The Sunday Times also named EIG Global Trust, a cryptocurrency fund, and 7 Steel, as rival bidders.
Mr Gupta has himself been exploring a possible offer, with backing from the American fund management giant BlackRock.
The Insolvency Service recently said: “We can confirm that the Official Receiver continues to progress bids for the sale of Speciality Steel UK.
“The sales process is ongoing, with the aim to complete a sale at the earliest opportunity.”
The Liberty Pipes division is recently understood to have delivered 51,000 tonnes of steel pipe to a huge carbon cluster project on Teesside which has also faced criticism for placing a separate order for Chinese-made, rather than British, steel.
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