Advertisement

  1. National

Two firms confirm bids to buy Tata Steel's UK assets

Liberty House and Excalibur Steel have confirmed they will put in formal bids to buy Tata Steel's UK assets.

Liberty House, a commodities trading firm headed by Sanjeev Gupta, was first to express an interest after the Indian conglomerate announced the shock decision to dispose of its loss making UK business, including the country's biggest steel plant at Port Talbot in south Wales. The other bidder, Excalibur Steel UK Limited, is a management buyout team.

View all 5 updates ›

Business Secretary postpones Iran trip to discuss Tata deal

UK Business Secretary Sajid Javid has delayed his trade meeting in Iran Credit: REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

Business Secretary Sajid Javid has postponed a key trade visit to Iran, according to a spokesman from the business department, to focus on the future of Britain's steel industry.

India's Tata group announced its plans in March that it would sell its entire UK steel operation - leaving the UK government in a battle to save an industry that has weak demand, soaring costs and hurt by cheap Chinese imports.

"Given the Business Secretary's focus on the steel industry, he has decided to postpone his trip to Iran," the spokesman said.

"He remains committed to exploring the opportunities for trade and investment with this emerging market and an alternative date will be arranged in due course," he added.

  1. Read more
  2. 5 updates
Two firms confirm bids to buy Tata Steel's UK assets

More top news