Seven bidders vying to buy Tata Steel's beleaguered UK operations have been taken through to the next stage of the sale process.
The company, which runs two factories in the Black Country employing around 800 staff, said seven of the expressions of interest submitted for the plants were now in the running while further suitors could still be shortlisted once outstanding issues were clarified.
Although the identities of the seven bidders has not been announced by Tata Steel, reports say the septet includes a management buyout team called Excalibur Steel UK and Liberty House, the commodities trading firm which acquired parts of steel group Caparo last year.
Tata Steel UK operates a coated narrow strip plant in Walsall and a bright bar factory in Wednesbury as well as the UK's largest steel plant in Port Talbot where it has 4,000 staff.
The company, whose Indian parent group owns Jaguar Land Rover, previously said the loss-making UK operations had been hit by the collapse in the price of steel products coupled with high energy costs and climate change policies.
In a statement, the company said: "As previously announced, it is Tata Steel Europe's primary intention to assess expressions of interest for the whole of Tata Steel's UK business.
"The seven expressions of interest being immediately taken forward are on this basis - expressions of interest for parts of the UK business are not."
Koushik Chatterjee, group executive director (finance and corporate) of Tata Steel, said: "We have been pleased with the response to the initial stage of the global sales process for Tata Steel's UK business.
"This announcement marks another important stage gate in this process.
"The expressions of interest received have been through a robust initial assessment process with inputs received from the UK Government whose views have been considered by the board.
"We believe the bids being taken forward offer future prospects of sustainability for the UK business as a whole.
"The sales process will continue as announced earlier in an expedited and robust manner to deliver greater clarity for all key stakeholders such as employees, customers and suppliers."
