Partner Article

Corus free to find buyers

Corus is now able to talk to potential purchasers for its threatened Teesside plant after two members of a consortium gave up their exclusive right to buy it.

The steel firm couldn’t negotiate with other potential buyers until Marcegaglia, of Italy and Dongkuk Steel, of Korea, decided whether they intended to continue with plans to take a majority stake in the Corus Teesside Cast Products (TCP) plant in Redcar.

Last month a four-strong international consortium, including the two firms, tore up a ten-year offtake agreement, signed in 2004, to take nearly 78% of the plant’s output, putting 3,000 jobs at risk.

But Marcegaglia and Dongkuk, which signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to buy the TCP plant, in January, had not clarified whether they intended to go ahead with that purchase.

When the MOU was signed a clause in the agreement said Corus couldn’t speak to any other perspective buyer until the end of June.

This week it emerged that the two firms had given up that exclusive right, leaving Corus free to talk to other interested parties.

However the two firms said it did not mean they would not be buying the plant.

A spokesperson for the consortium said: “Corus requested the exclusivity be removed.

“The consortium agreed to that request. In all other respects the MOU remains in place.

“The two consortium members engaged in the MOU have made clear that their immediate priority is to have Corus remove the obstacles to a constructive discussion of new commercial solutions at TCP.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .