Lunchtime deadline for Tata UK steel bids

Tata is set to decide which bidders will go through to the next phase of the purchase process.

The company has already confirmed seven prospective buyers have expressed an interest in purchasing Tata Steel UK

Those prospective buyers have until lunchtime today to table formal offers for the struggling business.

It is expected the Mumbai based board of Tata will then filter out and take forward those organisations they feel fit the bill later this week at a board meeting in India.

Tata will then take forward around three preferred bidders to the next phase of the process to buy their UK Steel portfolio which includes the profit making jewel in the crown Shotton site.

The company has 11,000 employees in the UK,with a further 25,000 in the the supply chain.

Tata put its UK steel operations up for sale in March, the Indian group has not publicly declared a timeline, reports suggest they want a provisional deal in place by June.

ITV are reporting there is growing momentum around an “all-British Bid” which could see the management buyout team, Excalibur Steel UK and Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty House Group working together.

The two are expected to table separate bids however they could form an alliance which Tata sees as favourable.

The Sunday Times reports that both sides met on Friday, and have met with the Business Secretary Sajid Javid.

Other in the purchase race include Endless, a UK private equity fund, JSW Steel of India, and Greybull Capital, Chinese group Hebei Iron and Steel and a new name in the hat Wilbur Ross, a US investor known for rescuing ailing steel, telecoms and textiles companies.