Tata Steel slips as Edi Truell renews offer to take over pension plan

NEW DELHI: Tata Steel Ltd slipped over 1 per cent in morning trade on Thursday after the British financier Edi Truell renewed an offer to take over Tata Steel's giant UK pension scheme in a deal that he says would allow members to keep benefits in full.

Tata Steel, Britain's largest steelmaker, is in talks with stakeholders about spinning off its British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) into a standalone entity and cutting benefits for all 130,000 members, said a Reuters report.

At 10:30 am, Tata Steel was trading 0.9 per cent lower at Rs 464. It touched a high of Rs 462.35 and a high of Rs 468.80 in the first 60 minutes of trade.

The report further added that the steelmaker is under pressure to end its obligations to the 15 billion pound ($18.4 billion) scheme as it is in merger talks with Germany's Thyssenkrupp, which is not prepared to take on Tata's UK pension obligations.