Tata Steel UK Limited (Tata Steel) signed a definitive sale agreement to sell certain assets of Teesside Cast Products (TCP) to Sahaviriya Steel Industries, UK (SSI), a subsidiary of Thailand's largest steel producer, in a deal valuing the business at $469 million.
The assets covered by the sale include the Redcar Blast Furnace, the Redcar and South Bank coke ovens, TCP's power generation facilities and sinter plant, and the Lackenby steelmaking and casting facilities.
The deal will also result in Tata Steel and SSI entering into a joint venture to operate Redcar Wharf (TCP's bulk terminal), giving Tata Steel the flexibility to use Teesside to serve its other steelmaking operations, while also meeting SSI's requirements on Teesside.
Tata Steel will continue to operate two large-diameter tube mills in Hartlepool, the Skinningrove special sections mill, Teesside Beam Mill and Teesside Technology Centre.
According to Tata Steel, ``this agreement is the most significant achievement in the 22 months since Tata Steel began an exhaustive search for an alternative future for TCP, after the illegal withdrawal by a consortium of offtakers from a 10-year supply agreement.
The next step will be the completion of the transaction, which will take place by the end of March.''
