Stemcor sells stockholding unit as talks to sell core continue

By Maytaal Angel

LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - UK-based Stemcor has sold its steel stockholding business for an undisclosed amount to MBM Group Services Limited as talks to sell its core steel trading operations continue.

The private firm, founded by Hans Oppenheimer and still majority owned by his family including opposition Labour lawmaker Margaret Hodge, said the sale was part of an ongoing restructuring process.

A spokesman for the company told Reuters Stemcor is also "speaking to a number of parties that have expressed interest in acquiring (its) core trading and distribution business".

Like many steel firms, Stemcor was hit hard by the global financial crisis, defaulting on an $850 million loan in 2013. Last year however, it won court approval to restructure its debt and borrow an extra $1.15 billion up to December 2015.

The firm's lenders include ABN AMRO, HSBC, ING, Natixis (Paris: FR0000120685 - news) and Societe Generale (Paris: FR0000130809 - news)

MBM is chaired by Derek Myatt of Meridian Metal Trading, a steel processing and stockholding company with revenues of over 100 million pounds. (Reporting by Maytaal Angel; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)