UK tax authority withdraws winding up petitions for GFG Alliance units

By Eric Onstad

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s tax authorities have withdrawn petitions to wind up four steel businesses of the GFG Alliance owned by commodities tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, following positive discussions, GFG said on Monday.

Gupta’s family conglomerate GFG has been scrambling to arrange financing to rescue his businesses in steel, aluminium and energy after supply chain finance firm Greensill filed for insolvency in March last year.

GFG said in a statement discussions with other creditors continued and that it had also injected further funding into its Liberty Steel businesses, allowing higher production as prices for the metal boom.

“We are also making operational improvements to further enhance the performance of our core businesses against a backdrop of robust demand for our products,” Gupta said in the statement.

Last month, Britain’s tax authority, HM Revenue & Customs, filed winding up petitions for four GFG UK businesses, including Liberty Performance Steels Ltd, but they have been withdrawn, filings showed.

Gupta had been lauded as the saviour of steel in Britain after he bought distressed assets in economically deprived areas. His group has 35,000 workers, including 5,000 in Britain, and annual revenues of $20 billion.

In Europe, GFG has operations in the Czech Republic, where it has launched a 40 million euro ($43.64 million) enhancement project, and its Romania plant is undergoing a 5.5 million euro productivity programme, GFG said.

In the United States, Liberty Steel has restarted production at plants in South Carolina and Illinois, it said.

Elsewhere, the South Australian government has taken the first steps to help co-finance an efficiency project at GFG’s Whyalla steelworks, which will involve a A$50 million ($36.81 million) grant, the statement said.

The Gupta Family Group Alliance has been under a cloud after Britain launched an investigation into suspected fraud and money laundering in mid-May.

GFG has said it would cooperate fully and would not comment further.

($1 = 0.9167 euros)

($1 = 1.3583 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Eric Onstad; editing by Barbara Lewis)