A STEEL business with a plant in Tredegar has been saved after being bought by a wealthy family.

The Gupta family, whose wider interests include the international energy, metals, industrial and trading groups SIMEC and Liberty House, has acquired Caparo Tubular Solutions, a core division of Caparo Industries plc, which went into administration in October.

The family made the announcement on Saturday after concluding talks with administrators PwC. It is hoped the deal will help preserve almost 350 jobs within Caparo’s Tubular Solutions division, a leading UK manufacturer, distributor and supplier of advanced tube components and parts for the automotive and aerospace industries.

Last month the Argus reported that 17 employees at Caparo Tubes, based at Tafarnaubach Industrial Estate in Tredegar, were set to lose their jobs as part of the cuts.

Liberty sees the multi-product Caparo tube businesses, headquartered at Oldbury in the West Midlands, as a major complement to its own hot rolled coil production, centred in Newport.

Sanjeev Gupta, chief executive of Liberty said: “I believe that, despite the current difficulties being encountered by the UK steel industry there is a future for the sector in Britain, if we can develop more efficient business models based on streamlined integrated production, processing and distribution. This, together with the new initiatives now supported by the Government to lower energy costs for energy intensive industries, provides an opportunity for UK steel once again to be competitive."

Liberty recently restarted hot rolled coil production at its rolling mill in Newport. The company imports steel slab through Newport for rolling on site but is also considering the possibility of producing slab from domestic steel scrap at the same plant, which has an existing arc furnace.

Alun Davies, AM for Blaenau Gwent, said: "This is really good news for everyone working in Caparo. I'm delighted that the business has been saved.

"Now we need to ensure the future sustainability of the jobs in Tredegar but also the steel industry across the UK.

"I will be speaking to the Welsh Economy Minister this week to discuss how we can save the steel industry in Wales and will continue to strive to campaign for the whole UK industry. Steel is too important to lose."