LAPLACE, La. — The Liberty Steel Group has made a $28 million bid to buy the Bayou Steel Group and reopen the recently closed LaPlace plant.
According to a release from Liberty Steel, Bayou Steel Group’s bankruptcy firm has named them the preferred cash bidder, and they expect to complete the deal on Jan. 31, 2020.
Liberty’s current plan is to upgrade and modernize the idle steel mill and restart recycling operations in the second half of 2020 and steel making in 2021.
“While the plant requires upgrades to be restarted competitively, we see good potential for the business,” Executive Chairman of GFG Alliance Sanjeev Gupta said. “Bayou benefits from reliable access to supplies of recycled steel, competitive power prices and its own deep-water port.”
Hundreds of workers lost their jobs at LaPlace’s Bayou Steel mill in September of 2019 when the mill shut down without warning. Bayou Steel Group owed more than $20 million to dozens of creditors when the company declared bankruptcy the day after closing.
Established in 1992, Liberty Steel's owner, Liberty House Group, began as a trading company focused on business in Asia and Africa, the company's website said. In 2019, the trade group bought two American steel companies, two french car manufacturers, and seven major steelworks across Europe.
Liberty House trades commodities globally, and it has assets all over the world, including India, Thailand, and Turkey.
RELATED: 'It's going to be rough:' 376 workers at Bayou Steel mill pick up the pieces after sudden closure
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.