BlueScope secures right-of-last refusal for Whyalla Steelworks

BlueScope Steel has secured a pivotal advantage in the sale of Whyalla Steelworks, gaining a “right-of-last-offer” provision that gives it the opportunity to beat any final offers to acquire the facility, as The Australian Financial Review reports.

The administrators have granted the ASX-listed company the ability to form a consortium with other interested parties and get the last look at any deal before it's sold to another party.

This is expected to come as an affront to other bidders in what has been a highly competitive process. South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said the process for the steelworks has drawn interest from 33 parties, 60 per cent of whom are offshore.

The AFR reports India's biggest steelmaker JSW Steel sent representatives to visit the steelworks in May. Other parties who have looked over the Whyalla plant include representatives from billionaire Kerry Stokes' Seven Group Holdings and a private Sydney company backed by the Ibrahim family called Greensteel Australia.

The South Australian government seized control of Whyalla Steelworks from British industrialist Sanjeev Gupta in February amid growing concerns it was not financially viable. Insolvency experts KordaMentha were appointed to run the operations, with 333 Capital launching the sale process.

Creditors are owed $1.35 billion, with GFG claiming it is due $536 million alone. Employees at the plant and mines are owed $137 million.

BlueScope, Australia's largest steelmaking company, placed around a dozen engineers and technical experts at Whyalla in March to help KordaMentha stabilise the loss-making steelworks, 380 kilometres north of Adelaide.

Picture: credit Joeltbooth (public domain)