Hundreds of jobs saved as administrators conclude new Caparo deal

HUNDREDS of jobs at Black Country engineering group Caparo have been saved with a deal securing the sale of further parts of the business.

Administrators said the deal had secured the jobs of more than 620 workers at the group. (See table below)

Oldbury-based Caparo collapsed into administration in October with the loss of 450 jobs – 323 of them in the Black Country. Since then administrators from PwC have been trying to save the various parts of the group, selling off three assets in a move which has so far saved almost 500 jobs.

The last deal, which completed in November, saw Liberty Steel, owned by the Gupta family, acquire 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. The move saved the jobs of more than 330 people.

PwC has now concluded the sale of substantially all of the remaining businesses and assets of Caparo Industries Group.

The deal is the latest in a series of major transactions and involves the sale of 10 businesses to the Gupta family, whose interests include the SIMEC and Liberty House groups.
 
Matthew Hammond, Midlands Region Chairman for PwC and Caparo lead administrator said: “We are delighted to have completed the sales, it is great news for the Midlands and the key manufacturing sites, particularly with so many skilled staff in these industries being given security at this time of year. This has been a complex and challenging assignment given the size and number of the business operations. Only by working alongside the talented Caparo people have we been able to achieve this result.

“Throughout what has been a difficult time, PwC has remained committed to achieving the goals of the administration: to keep the business going and find the best solution for staff and creditors. In particular the supply chain can also now look forward to 2016 with a good deal more certainty with these businesses in the hands of an experienced investor across these sectors. We thank the customers and suppliers who have supported the businesses over the last eight weeks. “

In just under two months, the PwC team has completed deals preserving over 1,100 jobs across the country, but heavily concentrated in the West Midlands.

Robert Moran, partner at PwC leading the Caparo sales process, said: “We are delighted to announce this latest transaction. Alongside those previously announced, it represents a successful outcome and continuity for a number of businesses which enjoy market leading positions. Our process to sell the Caparo businesses extended to over 350 interested parties, and we are delighted to transfer the businesses, assets and staff through to a new investor with significant experience and plans to invest further in the steel, engineering and vehicles sectors. To have preserved another 623 jobs across nine locations by means of this transaction is a success which repays the talent, skills and dedication shown across the businesses over recent weeks.

“The transactions to date have led to a total of 1,111 Caparo people being transferred and remaining in continued employment. We are delighted for the Caparo employees, who have shown incredible loyalty to the business, and fantastic support to the PwC team in working with us over a difficult eight week period to secure transactions which have preserved many longstanding Midlands businesses. We would like to thank them all, as well as their union representatives, for this support.”

The deal saves 623 jobs in total and the firms concerned are: