The secretive buyout fund Greybull Capital bought the Ascoval mill in northern France out of insolvency, saying it would invest €47.5m (£41.7m). The French state is injecting a further €47m.
The deal came in the middle of fraught talks with ministers over a £75m bailout for British Steel, where orders have plunged amid Brexit uncertainty. Greybull has already secured a £120m government loan to cover the cost of carbon credits, whose release has been delayed by the European Commission.
Last week, the Scunthorpe plant’s 4,000 staff won a temporary reprieve when Greybull and its lenders agreed to pump in money to keep the business afloat. Greybull refused to say how much it had put in. “It’s a temporary measure,” said an industry source. “It does not give a huge deal of confidence in the long-term future . . . Why on earth did they buy Ascoval when everything else hangs by a thread?”
