Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG settles disputes with Tata Steel and Rio Tinto

Sanjeev Gupta’s under-pressure business empire has settled two disputes with major international companies, months after a major lender collapsed.

GFG Alliance said it has reached an agreement with India’s Tata Steel, which will end proceedings that Tata launched against three GFG companies, including Liberty Speciality Steels, earlier this year.

According to reports from April, Tata took action against Liberty Steel due to unpaid debts linked to Liberty’s £100 million takeover of the Indian company’s speciality steel business in 2017.

GFG, which is a loose alliance of companies centred around Mr Gupta’s family’s business interests, did not provide further details on the settlement.

It has also settled a dispute with mining giant Rio Tinto linked to the company’s 2018 purchase of Rio’s Dunkirk aluminium smelter.

GFG again provided no further information on the deal.

Mr Gupta’s business empire has been under pressure since March when major lender Greensill Capital collapsed.

Greensill said at the time that it had billions of pounds worth of exposure to GFG Alliance.

Since then bosses at GFG have been scrambling to ensure that their companies can survive the shock of Greensill’s collapse.

On Thursday, GFG revealed that Liberty Steel’s mill in Newport, South Wales, had its best financial performance ever in the first quarter of the financial year, and that the outlook is even brighter for the second quarter.

Mr Gupta said: “The update of the RTC (Restructuring and Transformation Committee) shows that, despite the challenges, our core businesses continue to perform very well, and we are taking advantage of the excellent market conditions we face.

“Much remains to be done, but we believe that we are now making rapid progress in building faith with our creditors and other stakeholders through our restructuring plan.

“We are moving with significant momentum towards a profitable, restructured and focused business.”