British government to support sale of Tata steel plants

London (dpa) - The British government offered to provide debt financing and take a stake of up to 25 per cent in any purchase of loss-making plants owned by India‘s Tata Steel on Thursday, as it attempts to save thousands of jobs."The financial support package will be tailored to the purchaser‘s strategy and financing needs," the government said in a statement, adding that most of the support would be through debt financing.It offered to support the financing of a purchase by taking a minority equity stake of up to 25 per cent without acquiring "a material element of control" over the business.Tata Steel is trying to find a buyer for its steel plant at Port Talbot in south Wales, which employs some 4,000 people, plus several much smaller sites in Britain.Business Secretary Sajid Javid said Thursday‘s offer reflected his government‘s commitment to finding a buyer for the remaining plants and "supporting the steel industry to secure a long-term viable future.""Ministers have visited Tata Steel sites across the country and the pride and dedication of the highly skilled men and women working there is obvious to see," Javid said."We have already delivered on energy compensation, on tackling unfair trading practices and on procurement of British steel, and we will keep on going further to support this vital industry."On Wednesday, Tata said it was discussing the sale of its British steel plants with "190 potential financial and industrial investors worldwide.""Tata Steel Europe welcomes credible expressions of interest for Tata Steel‘s UK operations," it said, adding that it would consider all proposals, including a possible management buy-out.The company agreed last week to sell its loss-making European long products division for a "nominal" fee to British-based private investors Greybull Capital, potentially saving 4,400 jobs in Britain and 400 jobs in France.Tata Steel is part of the Indian-based Tata Group, which employs some 80,000 people worldwide.