UK Parliament launches inquiry into Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty Steel

[LONDON] A UK parliamentary committee has begun an inquiry into Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty Steel after the collapse of the company's biggest lender pushed it to the brink.

The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee will probe the financial support governments have given to the steelmaker, as well as the role of supply chain financing in its current difficulties. Liberty, a division of Gupta's GFG Alliance, was forced to ask the UK for a US$236 million bailout after lender Greensill Capital fell into administration. The request was rejected.

The inquiry, which begins in late May, will also examine whether Liberty Steel should be saved from collapse. Already three French units of the broader group have been put into voluntary administration, while others in France and Belgium have sought protection from their creditors.

Mr Gupta said during an April 16 podcast that some of his UK assets were "struggling at the moment with the lack of funding."

BLOOMBERG