Sanjeev Gupta is preparing a last-ditch attempt to save the remaining arm of his Liberty Steel business as government officials step up planning for a collapse of the business within days. Gupta is understood to have spent the weekend planning an 11th-hour rescue deal to save the company’s Speciality Steel UK (SSUK) division days before a courtroom showdown with its creditors on Wednesday.
The metals magnate hopes to secure a pre-pack administration deal that would allow the company to ditch its debts and other liabilities before being bought back by Gupta or parties connected to him. The plan is likely to raise eyebrows in Whitehall, where government officials are reportedly planning for a collapse of the heavily indebted steel division while fraud investigations into other areas of Gupta’s business empire remain open.
A Liberty Steel spokesperson said discussions were ongoing to finalize options for SSUK that “best serve the interests of creditors, employees and the broader community”. The restructuring specialist Begbies Traynor is working on the pre-pack deal, according to Sky News, but any deal would need Liberty Steel’s creditors, including the British tax authority, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Swiss lender UBS, to agree to write off potentially hundreds of millions of pounds of debt.
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