An Indian steel maker has been approached to rescue stricken British Steel Ltd, three years after the Tatas carved out the business from their sagging European business and sold it off to a private equity firm which renamed the operation to highlight the “brand with incredible heritage”.

Sajjan Jindal’s JSW Steel, India’s largest private sector steel maker by output, is evaluating the option for the company, which has been referred to the official liquidator in the UK in May.

Private equity firm Greybull Capital had acquired the Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire-based unit for a token amount of one pound when the Tatas were looking to hive off the loss making long product division in 2016 and named it after the avatar that existed before Corus.

The UK operations of Corus Group Plc, which was acquired by Tata Steel in 2007 and later renamed as Tata Steel Europe, was called British Steel.

Corus was created after the merger with Hoogovens of the Netherlands.

The UK Court has appointed Hunter Kelly, Sam Woodward and Alan Hudson of EY to act as special managers to assist the official receiver with his duties as liquidator.

The managers have reached out to 80 companies and 60 of them have signed non-disclosure agreements, indicative of their initial interest.

Bids will be called by the end of June, by when the potential suitors are expected to carry out due diligence on the books of the company which has around 4,500 people in the UK.

When contacted, a JSW spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied the interest. “JSW doesn’t comment on market rumours and speculation,” the spokesperson said.

Tight spot

The markets will be watching very closely to see whether JSW finally makes a bid. The overseas gambits of the company are yet to pay off.

Plate and pipe mills, acquired more than a decade back for a billion dollars, have been loss making during the most part under JSW fold.

The company, which acquired two small, loss-making firms in the US and Italy last year, continues to be in the red.

Moreover, JSW has ambitious plans to expand its Indian operations.

It plans to spend Rs 32,048 crore to raise its primary steelmaking capacity to 24 million tonnes from 18 million tonnes, build new downstream units, backward integration and sustenance.

The company is also the front runner to acquire Bhushan Power & Steel (BPSL) from India’s insolvency courts.

The development comes at a time steel prices are making a retreat across the globe and Europe, while ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel maker, has cut production twice in Europe last month.