The government has prepared to install special managers to run Liberty Steel's South Yorkshire operations if the company enters administration. Speciality Steel UK employs 1,450 people at facilities in Rotherham and Stocksbridge. Creditors are seeking a compulsory winding-up order, while the company sought an adjournment to pursue a pre-pack administration to allow owner Sanjeev Gupta to retain control. The Department for Business and Trade indicated its official receiver was ready to conduct a sales process if administration occurs. The insolvency judge considered granting two weeks to assess consequences, and government lawyers were in court with a draft application for a special manager. Gupta has been seeking new financing since Greensill Capital collapsed in 2021.
Ministers have lined up special managers to run Liberty Steel's South Yorkshire operations if they are put into administration, according to a dramatic revelation at London's high court. The development shows the government is ready to step in immediately to secure the continued operations of the Speciality Steel UK (SSUK), which employs 1,450 people at the group's operations at an electric arc furnace in Rotherham and another plant in Stocksbridge, both in South Yorkshire.
Creditors to SSUK are seeking a compulsory winding up order, the high court heard on Wednesday. The company asked to adjourn the hearing to buy time to try to agree a pre-pack administration that would allow its owner, the metals tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, to keep control of the insolvent company. Counsel representing the creditors showed the judge a letter from the Department for Business and Trade
The insolvency and companies court judge Sally Barber said she was minded to give two weeks of extra time to decide what the consequences of each course would be. However, after a short pause, the creditors' counsel then disclosed that lawyers for the government were present in the court. The barrister said he had just been informed that an application for the appointment of a special manager to carry out the administration had already been prepared in draft form.
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