Firm enters into exclusive talks with a steel products company over sale of 1,700-strong business

A Tata Steel plant

Tata Steel UK has signed a letter of intent to enter into exclusive negotiations with steel products company Liberty House over the 拢100m sale of its speciality steels business.

The letter of intent covers several South Yorkshire-based assets including the Rotherham electric arc steelworks, the steel purifying facility in Stocksbridge and a mill in Brinsworth.

It also includes service centres in Bolton and Wednesbury in the West Midlands as well as two in Suzhou and Xi鈥檃n in China.

The speciality steels business employs about 1,700 people making steels for the aerospace, automotive and the oil & gas industries.

Earlier this year Tata Steel UK sold its construction structural steel business Long Products to investor Greybull Capital, saving 4,800 jobs. The business was relaunched as British Steel.

Bimlendra Jha, chief executive of Tata Steel UK, said: 鈥淭he speciality steels business is independent of the pan-European strip products supply chain and today鈥檚 announcement is in line with the overall restructuring strategy of the UK portfolio.

鈥淭his is an important step forward in seeking a future for Speciality Steels and we have reached this stage thanks to the efforts of employees, trade unions and management.鈥