British Steel plans to sell business to Jingye Group

China’s Jingye Group has announced that it has reached a deal to buy British Steel, a steel manufacturer based in northern England. 

British Steel has entered into acquisition contracts with Jingye Steel (UK) Ltd. and Jingye Steel (UK) Holding Ltd. along with Jingye Group to sell its business and assets to Jingye Group, including steelworks at Scunthorpe and U.K. mills and the subsidiary businesses of FN Steel, British Steel France and TSP Engineering, British Steel reports in a news release on the acquisition. It is also anticipated that the shares owned by BSL in Redcar Bulk Terminal Ltd. will also be included in the sale. 

According to a report in Reuters, Jingye Group has also promised to invest about £1.2 billion (or $1.5 billion) over the next decade in British Steel assets and save thousands of jobs.

Completion of the contract is conditional on a number of matters, including the requisite regulatory approvals and certain employee consultation procedures, British Steel reports. The company adds that the parties are working together to conclude a sale as soon as reasonably practicable.

British Steel plans to continue to trade as normal during the period between exchange and completion while assisting Jingye to plan for the future, the company reports in a news release on the acquisition.