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Chinese buyer set to save steel plant

Industrial giant Jingye is set to buy British Steel out of liquidation and save 4,000 jobs.

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Steel crisis

A Chinese industrial giant is set to come to the rescue of British Steel within days, buying out its embattled Scunthorpe plant and potentially saving 4,000 jobs, it has been reported.

After talks with a prospective Turkish buyer collapsed, the Jingye Group has become the leading contender to buy British Steel out of liquidation, with a buyout bid worth a reported £70 million on the table.

Jingye is also set to sweeten the offer with the promise it can also access up to £300 million in loans, indemnities and grants to back its plan to boost production at the plant by 10%.

Steel crisis
The move could safeguard 4,000 jobs (Danny Lawson/PA)

Staff at the Scunthorpe facility have been told in an email that contracts between British Steel and Jingye have been exchanged, the Guardian reported.

The news comes after talks stalled between the steelmaker and Ataer. The Turkish firm is said to have fallen to third place in the bidding, also behind steel baron Sanjeev Gupta, who owns the UK-based Liberty House group.

Nic Dakin, the Labour candidate for Scunthorpe, said: “The workforce at British Steel have done an outstanding job continuing to make and sell steel through this difficult few months.

“It looks as if we’re coming to a point where a new owner may well be determined and that would be very good news for the business and the communities that are around it.”

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