A potential buyer could save Liberty Steel in South Yorkshire
A winding up petition has been been delayed in order for a sale to go through
Last updated 21st May 2025
A South Yorkshire steel company has avoided insolvency because a potential buyer has been found, the High Court has heard.
Speciality Steel UK (SSUK), part of the Liberty Steel Group founded by Sanjeev Gupta, employs 1,450 people.
A specialist judge adjourned a winding up petition for eight weeks to allow time for the sale of the company to go through.
Lawyers representing SSUK said at a hearing on Wednesday that "urgent meetings have been taking place" with a "third party purchaser".
Insolvency and Companies Court judge Sebastian Prentis said: "I will adjourn to July 16 for sale of business."
Jeffrey Kabel, Liberty Steel chief transformation officer, said the court decision was a "positive development" and said the company will use the time to "finalise options including a sale of the business" while continuing its debt restructuring plans.
He said: "We remain committed to finding the right solution that preserves EAF (electric arc furnace) steelmaking in the UK, a vital national asset serving strategic supply chains.
"We recognise that change is essential to set the business on a positive trajectory and provide certainty for our creditors, employees and stakeholders.
"We will utilise the time afforded by the adjournment to engage in intensive discussions with a view to achieving an outcome which best serves the strategic interests of the business of the UK, the South Yorkshire community, and the broader UK steel sector."
He added that the company has been involved in "complex debt restructuring" since the collapse of Greensill Capital in 2021, the principal financial backer of Liberty Steel's owner GFG Alliance.
Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of steelworkers' union Community, said on Tuesday that workers have run out of patience and called for Mr Gupta to "invest in the business or step aside".
He said: "Our members at Liberty Steel have endured far too much turbulence and uncertainty over recent years as a result of the erratic and irresponsible way the company has been run.
"Failed restructuring plans and broken promises from the company have become a familiar, demoralising pattern, and things simply can't go on as they are.
"New, responsible ownership is needed to give the business the brighter future it needs and deserves, and that can only be achieved with a decisive change at the top."
Marie Tidball, Labour MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, also said on Tuesday: "I have listened to my constituents in Stocksbridge and agree with them that it is time for Gupta to go.
"He has run out of road, his chaotic ownership must end now.
"Our Stocksbridge Speciality Steels site needs new, competent ownership to maximise its potential, so that the business has a real chance for success."