Tata Steel and British authorities said they have agreed on a plan to restructure the firm's British pension scheme, ending one aspect of uncertainty for 1,30,000 current and retired steelworkers. Tata announced plans last year to sell its UK operations, including their Port Talbot steelworks in Wales. However, interventions from the British government and unions it agreed to keep the business, which employs 8,000 people in Britain.
Tata Steel UK released a statement saying it had signed an arrangement with pension trustees to separate the plan from the company, in exchange for a £550 million cash injection and stake for the pension fund in the company's businesses. The deal also addressed an obstacle to a proposed merger between Tata's British businesses and Germany's Thyssenkrupp. Koushik Chatterjee, Tata Steel Group Executive Director, said the deal was an “important milestone in Tata Steel UK's journey towards a sustainable and enduring future, with pension obligations whose risk profile would be consistent with the underlying business.”
