Jingye will acquire British Steel on March 9

The sale of British Steel to China's Jingye will be completed on Monday 9 March. The Jingye Group has announced its agreement to move to complete the purchase of British Steel from the Official Receiver. It says: “Completion will take place on 9 March, saving 3,200 highly skilled jobs in Scunthorpe, Teesside and elsewhere, securing a long-term and sustainable future for the region's steel production as a key part of Britain's industrial heritage. About 100 more jobs will be transferred to Barrett Steel following the sale of four distribution centers to British Steel. The completion of the deal will also unlock the promised £ 1.2bn investment to modernize the site, as well as improve its energy efficiency and environmental performance.

Jingye CEO Li Huimin hailed the deal as the new head of British steel and pledged not to abuse the trust placed in the company and British Steel unions.

Subject to acceptance of job offers, Jingye will acquire British Steel at its Scunthorpe and UK mills and the FN Steel and TSP Engineering subsidiaries at Teesside Beam Mill and Skinningrove.