GFG Alliance boss Sanjeev Gupta says he’s reached financial settlement with financier Greensill

Premier Peter Malinauskas has issued a frank personal demand to Whyalla steelworks owner Sanjeev Gupta and pointedly refused to express confidence in his firm.

Premier Peter Malinauskas has issued a blunt personal demand to Whyalla steelworks owner Sanjeev Gupta to pay creditors and debts as he pointedly refused to express trust in his firm’s ongoing ownership of the crucial national asset.

Intensifying pressure on the indebted steel magnate, Mr Malinauskas on Friday morning cautiously welcomed GFG’s earlier statement vowing to pump money into Whyalla operations, after reaching agreement to settle global financier debts and announcing plans to sell a NSW coal mine.

Mr Malinauskas declared there was “an impatience on the ground in Whyalla” and “within the government on GFG to demonstrate actions more than words”.

But Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia accused the Premier of refusing to answer questions about the true state of the steelworks’ future and leaving Whyalla people in the dark.

Asked by The Advertiser whether his government had lost patience with Mr Gupta as owner of Whyalla steelworks and was trying to engineer a replacement, Mr Malinauskas pointedly declined to directly answer but then issued blunt “gratuitous advice to Mr Gupta”.

“Do everything you can to be where you should be, have the meetings that are required to be in a position to be able to reinvest in the steelworks and pay their debts,” the Premier said.

Mr Malinauskas said the future of steelmaking in the upper Spencer Gulf was in the national interest and Whyalla could not be allowed to fail, because it was critical for national sovereignty and the economy as the only domestic long-form steel manufacturer.

“That invites not just thinking about creditors being paid to solve an immediate problem, it goes to how we’re setting it (Whyalla steelworks) up for the long-term to make it sustainable in a globally competitive environment,” Mr Malinauskas said.

Asked by The Advertiser if he trusted Mr Gupta to deliver on these promises, expectations and objectives, Mr Malinauskas again did not directly answer.

“Look, I want Mr Gupta to succeed because if he does, that’s good for everybody. What I’d say is, I think, as you know, in Australia, we normally start from a position of trusting those that we engage with and deal with and that’s never a good thing if trust is lost.

“Rather than provide a commentary on trust, I would simply make the point that the statement is welcome, but we need to see it translate into action.”

Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia, who visited Whyalla on Friday with Liberal frontbencher Stephen Patterson, said it had been left to the Opposition to advocate for the steel city’s residents and businesses.

“This is a community that is too big to fail and the people of Whyalla deserve transparency about the future of the steelworks – not just empty promises,” Mr Tarzia said.

Earlier on Friday, Mr Gupta, GFG Alliance’s executive chairman, issued a statement saying his firm could start pumping money into the crisis-ridden Whyalla steelworks and would sell the Tahmoor coal mine after reaching an agreement to settle debts with Greensill creditors.

“Today’s agreement with Greensill creditors is a great relief for GFG and all our loyal workforce and suppliers,” Mr Gupta said.

“It will enable us to push on from the deep challenges caused by Greensill’s collapse in 2021 and now gives us a financial platform for recovery and growth.

“With signs of improvements at our operations and some upturn in our markets, we are confident of being able to access longer-term financing to build on the significant investments we have already made in our international businesses, and to rebuild stakeholder confidence.”

In the statement, GFG said it had reached an agreement on commercial terms for the settlement of all debts, subject to final binding legal agreement.

GFG said this was the final chapter of the firm’s debt settlement, which has been negotiated since the 2021 collapse of Greensill, a global financier.

This “supports new capital” for GFG subsidiary Liberty Primary Metals Australia, the statement said, including the Whyalla steelworks.

An “expedited process” will be launched to sell part or all of GFG’s equity in the Tahmoor Coking Coal mine, with “some of the proceeds being available for reinvestment in Whyalla”.

The GFG statement says this would enable the firm “to catch up with supplier payments and boost liquidity, subject to board approval”.

Sanjeev Gupta poses in his city office on the 10th floor of the EY building in Adelaide. Picture Mark Brake

It comes after The Advertiser revealed on Friday morning that GFG Alliance owes at least $300m in outstanding debts to creditors.

The Advertiser received a list of 1293 GFG external creditors, including large firms with debts ranging from almost $100m to small Whyalla businesses with a few hundred dollars outstanding.

The extensive creditor list comprises four business units, which reveals a total of $218.75m in payments due past 61 days for: Whyalla steelworks, $43,274,676; SIMEC Mining (iron ore operations near Whyalla), $136,381,761; Whyalla Port, $4,651,718; and Tahmoor (NSW coking coal colliery), $34,450,137.

Originally published as GFG Alliance boss Sanjeev Gupta says he’s reached financial settlement with financier Greensill