The French court has rejected Jingye Group’s bid for British Steel’s Hayange rail mill in France that produces about 300,000mt of rail steel annually.
The French entity accepted the offer of UK-based Liberty House and rejected Jingye’s over concerns about Chinese investments in Europe, especially since the Hayange steel mill is viewed as a company of national importance. France’s finance ministry is now slated to review the deal.
Ascoval, a supplier of steel blooms to Hayange, is also part of the consideration in the venture although details are unknown.
Jingye had pledged to invest €60m ($68mn) in the Hayange rail mill over five years with no need for public funding while also transferring €30m for future capital expenditure into an escrow account.
Jingye Group completed the takeover of British Steel, the UK’s second-largest steelmaker, in March 2020 after an outline agreement was offered by the group in November 2019. The transaction included British Steel’s UK and Dutch sites and excluded the site in France.