British Steel Bid - Turkish Company Ataer Holding Enters Exclusive Talks
Turkey's military pension fund has signed a preliminary agreement to buy British Steel, bringing it closer to taking over the stricken steelmaker. Ataer Holding, a subsidiary of the country's state military retirement fund Oyak, is now in exclusive talks for the steel giant. OYAK GM Mr Suleyman Savas Erdem said "We have achieved one of the biggest achievements of the Turkish steel industry and signed a preliminary agreement to buy the industrial giant of UK, British Steel. We will continue to evaluate opportunities globally inline with our growth-oriented vision and we will continue our investments to provide sustainable high benefit to our members."
Commenting on the emergence of a potential buyer for British Steel, Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, Ms Rachel Reeves MP said “The news that there looks like being a buyer for British Steel is a positive development and provides some much-needed optimism for workers, customers and others in the supply chain. As part of our UK steel inquiry, in the autumn we plan to ask Ataer about its proposals, its plans for the workforce and how it will ensure the future prosperity of a company that is so important to the community and wider economy.”
Based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, British Steel was put into compulsory liquidation on May 22 after Greybull Capital, which bought the firm for one pound from Tata Steel three years ago, failed to secure funding to continue its operations. Greybull blamed Brexit strains for its financial collapse. Britain's second-largest steelmaker employs 5,000 workers and produces nearly 1,500 steel products including rail, construction steel, special profiles, and wire rods with an annual production capacity of 4.5 million tonnes of raw steel. The 150 year old company supports a further 20,000 jobs in its supply chain and production sites in France and the Netherlands. Some important projects featuring British Steel products are London Heathrow Airport and the Olympic Stadium, as well as the newly inaugurated Istanbul Airport.
OYAK Mining Metallurgy Group is Turkey's largest integrated steel producer with its nine companies employing some 12,000 workers. According to crude steel production statistics in 2017, it ranks third among the producers of the EU-28. The main company within the group is Eregli Iron and Steel Factories, Erdemir, based in northwestern Turkey's Zonguldak. Starting flat steel and plate production for the first time in Turkey as a public corporation in 1965, Erdemir is listed among the fifty civil engineering feats of the country by the Chamber of Civil Engineers. It was privatized in October 2005 and 49.29% of the shares were acquired by OYAK for USD 2.77 billion while 47.63% of its shares are traded in Borsa Istanbul, with 3.08% held by Erdemir itself. In 2002, Iskenderun Iron and Steel Corporation, Isdemir, another public-owned company based in southern Hatay province producing flat and long steel products, was transferred to Erdemir. There are various mining, engineering and energy companies operating as subsidiaries of Isdemir and Erdemir, which are ranked seventh and eighth in the Istanbul Chamber of Industry's annual "500 Top Turkish Enterprises" list, respectively.
Source : Strategic Research Institute