Third Caparo subsidiary saved – together with 330 jobs
A THIRD subsidiary of Black Country-based steel group Caparo Industries has been sold out of administration.
The acquisition of the Caparo Tubular Solutions business by the Gupta family comes less than a week after administrators safeguarded the jobs of nearly 80 workers at the Caparo Wire factory in Wrexham to Rcapital.
The sale of Caparo Tubular Solutions, which includes the businesses of Caparo Precision Tubes Oldbury, Caparo Tube Components, Caparo Accles and Pollock, Hub Le Bas and the Caparo Tubes Tredegar asset, is the largest to date and saves the jobs of more than 330 people.
The deal, the terms of which have not been announced, means that administrators from PwC have so far managed to save the jobs of 488 people employed by the Caparo group, which lapsed into administration in October amidst ongoing pressure from cheap steel imports.
Robert Moran, partner at PwC, leading the Caparo sales process, said: “The sale of Caparo Tubular Solutions is a major boost for the Midlands economy, the employees of Caparo and more widely for the UK steel industry.
“This deal preserves all 333 jobs at Caparo Tubular Solutions, which manufactures, distributes and supplies advanced tube components and parts for the automotive and aerospace industries in the West Midlands and South Wales.”
He said administrators were continuing to discuss other parts of the Caparo group with various interested parties and several negotiations were at an advanced stage.
Matthew Hammond, Midlands Region Chairman for PwC and lead administrator added: “We are delighted to have made further substantial progress with this deal. We had targeted selling a number of the Caparo businesses during November.
“Our Deals team, led by Robert Moran with corporate finance support from Neil Sumner has successfully concluded transactions in November which preserve businesses and employment.”
The latest deal also means that the number of jobs (488) saved since Caparo went into administration is now more than those lost. The administrators at PwC announced 452 job losses – including 323 in the Black Country – at the group at the end of October.
The Gupta family’s interests include the SIMEC and Liberty House groups.
