Sanjeev Gupta has launched a legal offensive against a US private equity firm to stop it seizing control of an aluminium smelter in Dunkirk.
The steel tycoon’s GFG Alliance – which has considerable operations in Britain – said it will seek to block any ‘predatory’ attempts by American Industrial Partners (AIP) to take over the smelter in northern France.
The smelter is part of GFG’s Alvance aluminium business.
Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance said it will seek to block any ‘predatory’ attempts by American Industrial Partners to take over the smelter in northern France
Earlier this year, AIP bought part of Alvance’s debt from other lenders and said last week that it had acquired the Dunkirk smelter and two other French businesses as a result of debt defaults by Gupta’s group.
However, GFG retorted by saying AIP’s statement that it had defaulted was ‘incorrect’ and the private equity firm had instead been refusing to accept loan repayments.
‘This is a cynical and predatory effort to try to acquire our business on the cheap,’ Gupta said.
‘We will fight this with all of our efforts to ensure Dunkirk remains inside our international steel and aluminium group.’
