Shearman’s Tata mandate creates 800 North East jobs

The US firm advised Tata on the sale of various assets of Teesside Cast Products (TCP), including its steel and sinter-producing facilities, to Thailand’s Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI), and the establishment of a joint venture between the companies to operate the Redcar Wharf terminal.

In total the deal is valued at $469m (£291.55m) and is expected to close later this month.

London M&A partner Laurence Levy led the team for Shearman, alongside project finance partner ­Kenneth MacRitchie, ­competition partner Matthew Readings and tax partner Iain Scoon.

Salans is advising SSI, with London capital markets partner Zarko Iankove leading. DLA Piper is acting for Tata on ­environmental and policy work, with property partner Neil Slater and environment partner Teresa Hitchcock leading. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer employment partner David Pollard advised on pensions.

Levy acted for steelmaker Corus, a longstanding client since he was a partner at Norton Rose, until its 2007 takeover by Tata. This is understood to be his first mandate acting for the merged entity.

Levy said: “The thing I enjoyed was the client’s commitment to the ­community in recreating the jobs, which has been a big part of the deal.”

The plant was mothballed and has been under threat of closure since last February, when more than 1,000 workers lost their jobs.