Tata Steel in talks to sell European long pdts biz for Rs 3K cr

Tata Steel is planning to undergo a massive consolidation and debt reduction drive to bring it down by 10-15 percent by CY16-end. The company is currently sitting on a debt of Rs 77500 crore.

Tata Steel has been looking to divest stake in foreign operations for a while now. It is planning to sell its long products business in Europe for Rs 3000 crore. At the same time, sources say the company is reviewing other European operations in a bid to identify non-performing assets and sell the same.

Tata Steel is also in exploratory talks to identify parts of South Asia long products business to sell.Reacting to this news, Chintan Mehta of Sunidhi Securities says that Tata steel has to sell its non-performing assets (NPAs) and other investments in order to reduce its debt.

However, selling its long products business will have marginal effect on the company’s debt, he says.