Liberty Steel breached £18m loan with Metro Bank – report
Angharad Carrick, 23 May 2021
Metro Bank is reportedly still waiting for the repayment of an £18m loan from embattled steel group Liberty.
It is the latest sign of trouble for Liberty’s owner GFG Alliance which is being investigated by the UK Serious Fraud Office for alleged money laundering and fraudulent trading. Its future has been in doubt since its main backer, supply chain finance firm Greensill Capital collapsed into administration in March.
But its troubles started some time earlier, with a loan secured on the steelworks as early as 2018, the BBC reported. Filings at the Isle of Man Companies Registry show that it’s one of a portfolio of industrial properties, including another factory in South Wales, which were pledged as security for an £18m loan from Metro Bank.
Liberty’s accounts for 2018-19 say that “due to breaches of… covenants and restrictions, Metro bank have called in the [loan] facility and have stipulated that full repayment must be made” by 31 March 2020.”
A GFG Alliance spokesman declined to say what caused the terms to be breached and added: “no loan terms have been breached due to non-payment” and “discussions are ongoing and are being resolved.”
The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has gone public investigating charges that Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance (Gupta Family Group Alliance) holding company and subsidiaries, such as Liberty Steel, has been involved in fraud, fraudulent trading and money laundering.
An investigation being undertaken by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of the government of the United Kingdom may shed light on to what extent metals producer the GFG Alliance has been affected by the former Greensill Capital, or to what extent the two firms worked in tandem to create financial irregularities.
The business empire of Liberty Steel owner Sanjeev Gupta is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).