Liberty Steel £50m cash injection saves jobs
Liberty Steel has secured a cash injection of £50million that will safeguard hundreds of jobs at its Rotherham plant.
Liberty’s owner, GFG Alliance, was forced to seek funding when lender Greensill Capital collapsed.
The deal is part of a wider restructure of the company and it will save 660 jobs – allowing the plant to reopen this month after being closed since the spring.
Community, the steelworkers’ union, said it was “overdue” but was “an important step in the right direction”.
Jeffrey Kabel, GFG’s chief transformation officer, said: “The injection of £50m of shareholder funds into Liberty Steel UK is an important step in our restructuring and transformation.
“It will help to create sustainable value, ensure that Liberty has the ability to raise and deploy capital quickly in the UK and enable our businesses to demonstrate their potential and agree long-term debt restructuring.”
Liberty owns 12 steel plants in the UK including in Rotherham, Motherwell, Stocksbridge, Newport and Hartlepool.