A row involving the steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta and one of his biggest UK customers has deepened after administrators launched a bid to wind up a company he bought just weeks ago.
It is learnt that insolvency practitioners at Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) have filed a winding-up petition against Aartee Group Holdings Limited and an application to be appointed as administrator to Aartee Steel Group Limited. Both companies were acquired last month by Gupta's GFG Alliance conglomerate, which trades under names including Liberty Steel in the UK.
The two entities owned by Gupta's group owe Aartee Bright Bar - which itself is in an administration process being run by A&M - a total of nearly £14 mn, according to reports. Staff at Aartee Bright Bar were briefed on the latest developments several days ago, according to one employee.
Gupta's group supplies steel products to Aartee group companies, and claims to have formulated a rescue plan that would preserve hundreds of steel industry jobs. A&M has already told Aartee Bright Bar employees that there was a realistic prospect that its creditors would be repaid in full if the £13.7 mn debt owed by the GFG-owned companies is repaid.
Aartee Bright Bar employs about 250 people in the West Midlands, Rugby, Bolton, Southampton and Newport. Gupta is reported to have close ties to Ravi Trehan, Aartee's founder, while Greensill Capital, the controversial supply chain finance group which itself collapsed in 2021, is said to have financed a number of trades between the two.