| Oyak Group has signed an exclusivity agreement to buy British Steel, a spokesperson for the Turkish military pension fund tells Kallanish. Its subsidiary Ataer Holding has received exclusivity to conduct a detailed financial, legal and operational review for a period of two months, scheduled for completion at end-September. The acquisition is expected to be finalised by year-end.During the exclusivity period, Ataer Holding will hold close negotiations with British Steel’s customers, suppliers, employees and trade unions.Oyak General Manager Süleyman Savas Erdem says: “We, as Oyak, Turkey’s largest professional pension fund, believe in the importance of merging world league players into our Group. Accordingly, we have achieved one of the biggest achievements of the Turkish steel industry and signed a preliminary agreement to buy the industrial giant of UK, British Steel. We, will continue to evaluate opportunities globally in line with our growth-oriented vision and we will continue our investments to provide sustainable high benefit to our members.”Oyak Mining Metallurgy Group Head Toker Özcan adds: “Through the acquisition of British Steel, our Group will increase its effectiveness in the value chain and the weight of value-added products in its final product portfolio. We will continue to monitor global markets and take proper actions to contribute to our strategic goals. The acquisition of British Steel under the Ataer umbrella is the first step taken in the future plans of our Group. Our priority will be to increase the production capacity and to invest in clean steel production in British Steel.”Scunthorpe-based British Steel has a 4.5 million tonnes/year crude steel capacity allocated to production of speciality long steel products including high-quality rail, sections and wire rod. Ataer owns a 49.3% stake Turkey’s largest steelmaker, Erdemir, which counts billet and wire rod among its product range, but is predominantly a flat steelmaker. |