Tata Steek UK gets two formal bids: Know who they are!

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: A day after India-born businessman Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty House Group announced it had officially submitted its letter of Intent to acquire Tata Steek UK plant, another team has emerged with a bid to buy the loss-making assets.

And who is this second team?

According to reports, they are a team of former Tata Steel UK staff known as the Excalibur Steek UK Limited.

And with this team, those making formal bids for Tata Steel UK plant is now officially two.

So, who are these two groups?

Liberty House is a group headed by India-born businessman Sanjeev Gupta. The company submitted their official bid for Tata Steel UK plant on Tuesday.

As per reports, they are supported by a panel of experts and financial advisers led by investment bankersMacquarie Capital (Europe) Limited, with the State Bank of India Capital Markets as co-financial advisers.

The company had recently completed its acquisition of two Scottish plants earlier owned by Tata Steel and the firm's Long Products division based in Scunthorpe had been sold to Greybull Capital for a token 1 pound last month, PTI said.

On the other hand, Excalibur Steel UK Limited is a management buyout (MBO) team of former Tata Steel staff and are backed by Welsh technology billionaire Sir Terry Matthews. The company confirmed it has also submitted its letter of intent.

"I can confirm that the Welsh Labour government is giving financial support to the MBO team to help them put their bid together," Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones said.

Excalibur is led by Stuart Wilkie, until recently managing director of Tata Steel UK, who believes he has come up with a sound turnaround plan for the operations.

Excalibur chief executive Wilkie said: "It was only two weeks ago we made the decision to pursue a buyout. We believe we have a large number of the pieces in place required to make this a success, including a management team with vast experience of steel-making and processing.

"We are confident we can turn the business around and sustain profitable steel-making in the United Kingdom."