London, December 22

Tata Steel today said it will enter into talks over selling struggling facilities in UK and France to a private firm, as its Indian parent battles against lower prices.

“This is an extremely critical time for the whole industry, and we have been working hard to explore all options that could provide a future for the Long Products Europe business,” Karl Koehler, CEO of Tata Steel’s European operations, said.

“We will now move into detailed negotiations with Greybull Capital. It is too early to give any certainty about the potential outcome of these discussions.”

Tata is looking at offloading steelworks, mills, an engineering workshop and design consultancy that are all based in northern England. It also wants to sell mills in Scotland that are currently mothballed, as well as a mill in northern France.