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Reuters
The company named as the preferred bidder for British Steel has failed to agree a deal to save it from collapse.
Turkey’s Ataer Holding was granted exclusive access to British Steel’s books in August after the company collapsed into liquidation.
Since May, British Steel has been kept running by the government as it seeks a buyer for the business.
The failure to agree a deal with Ataer puts 5,000 jobs directly at risk and a further 20,000 in the supply chain.
Ataer has until Thursday to maintain its 10-week exclusive access to the company’s book as it attempts to strike a deal to buy British Steel, which owns the Scunthorpe steel works.
British Steel was put into compulsory liquidation in May after rescue talks with the government broke down.
After that, the government will open the process to other bidders, although Ataer is understood to have not ruled out making a bid for the company.
It is expected that Liberty House, run by businessman Sanjeev Gupta, is likely to rekindle its interest in buying British Steel.
Army pension fund
Liberty House already owns facilities in Rotherham and Stocksbridge, both in South Yorkshire, and employs 5,500 people across some 30 sites in the UK.
Ataer owns nearly 50% of Erdemir, Turkey’s biggest steel producer.
It is the investment vehicle of the Turkish Armed Forces Assistance Fund (known as Oyak), the pension fund for the country’s armed forces.
MPs have voiced concerns about Ataer’s links with the Turkish government following the country’s military crossing into Kurdish-held parts of Northern Syria.