Turkish pension fund Oyak signs exclusivity agreement to buy British Steel

As part of its regional growth ambitions in steel industry, OYAK, the biggest complimentary pension fund in Turkey, signed an exclusivity agreement to buy the industry symbol British Steel that has operations in UK, France and the Netherlands.

British Steel with its 150 years of heritage has a crude steel production capacity of 4.5 million tonnes annually and produces speciality long steel products including high quality rail, sections and wire rod. British Steel along with its engineering and project management companies offers to create high value with its strategic products and industry know-how.

Headquartered in Scunthorpe, UK, the integrated steelmaker has a wide customer network around the world. In addition to iconic projects like London Heathrow Airport and London Olympic Stadium, the company is a reliable supplier of UK and European rail network.

The Company entered compulsory insolvency on May 21, 2019 and was put up for sale through official authorities on the same date and nearly 80 bidders including steel producers from all over the world, especially European producers, aspired to buy the firm. During the meetings, all stakeholders expressed their wishes for British Steel's vision of a common future.

Ataer Holding owned by OYAK, with its strategic vision for British Steel, differentiated from other bidders and received exclusivity to conduct detailed financial, legal and operational review for a period of 2 months. During the exclusivity period, close negotiations to be held with customers, suppliers, employees and trade unions is significant for the future success of British Steel. After the successful completion of detailed inspection process at the end of October 2019, the handover is expected to be hold in 2019.

OYAK General Manager Süleyman Savaş Erdem said the following regarding the new investment: ‘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 inline 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 said: ‘As OYAK Maden Metallurgy Group, we are a world-wide known and preferred brand that competes with the giants of the iron and steel industry in every aspects of the business, from our quality to effectiveness in production. 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 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.”

Source: Oyak, Photo: Fotolia