Commodities tycoon Gupta still ready to buy British Steel

British commodities tycoon Sanjeev Gupta is ready to bid for British Steel if an offer from China's Jingye Group falls through, two sources close to the matter have said.

Earlier this month, Jingye Group announced a provisional deal to buy British Steel, but the acquisition needs regulatory approvals. Jingye's provisional deal needs regulatory and foreign investment clearance from European jurisdictions, including the European Commission.

Gupta, who heads the privately-held GFG Alliance, has snapped up steel assets around the world and made repeated offers to buy British Steel.

One of the sources said Gupta was still interested, but that, if the Jingye process dragged on too long, a rescue plan might at some point no longer be viable.

British Steel's main plant, in Scunthorpe, has been operating as normal, workers say, since it went into compulsory liquidation in May. The British government has been paying the wage bill, which last year was 250 million pounds ($320 million), industry sources say.

A spokesman said the EU executive had not received formal notification of the deal, while a Jingye spokeswoman in China said there were a lot of procedures yet to be done.

Gupta has not said how much he would be willing to pay for British Steel, while the Jingye offer is around $50 million, industry sources have said.

.Asian Metal Copyright Jingye's provisional deal needs regulatory and foreign investment clearance from European jurisdictions, including the European Commission.Asian Metal Copyright