Member Article

Major London law firm appointed as legal advisor in ongoing Tata Steel crisis

London-headquartered global law firm Slaughter and May have been appointed as legal advisors by Tata Steel in their efforts to offload their UK steel operation.

The legal team have been brought in to advise the multinational Indian giant, along with KPMG, on any potential transaction as it looks to divest from its ailing British steel interests.

It comes after the announcement that Tata is to sell its Long Products Business to family investment firm Greybull Capital for a nominal fee, providing a lifeline to 4,000 jobs and saving a steelworks in Scunthorpe, along with two mills in Teesside, and facilities in Workington, York and northern France.

After advising the multinational firm on today’s sale, Slaughter and May will now get to work on Tata’s attempts to find a buyer for the rest of its UK steel business, including Port Talbot steelworks, which represents 14,500 jobs across the industry.

The legal team advising Tata through the process is to be led by partner Gary Eaborn, with support from real estate partner John Nevin and environment senior counsel Samantha Brady.

The government has faced mounting criticism for its handling of the ongoing steel crisis, with accusations that ministers have not acted quickly enough in protecting the interests of the UK steel industry.