International industrials and metals group Liberty House said it agreed to buy Tata Steel UK’s speciality steels business for about £100 million.

Liberty said the deal secures the future of around 1,700 jobs directly, and thousands more in the supply chain and regional economy.

The speciality steels business, which makes high-value steels for the aerospace, automotive and oil & gas industries, has manufacturing facilities in Rotherham, Stocksbridge and Brinsworth in South Yorkshire and Wednesbury in the West Midlands, as well as service centres in Bolton and in China.

The deal will make Liberty one of the largest steel and engineering employers in the UK with more than 4,000 workers at plants across Britain’s industrial heartlands.

The business has the capability to make around 1.1 million tonnes of liquid steel per year from recycled scrap, melted in two electric arc furnaces at Rotherham.

Liberty House Group executive chairman Sanjeev Gupta said: “I am proud that we are acquiring a world-class business with a very skilled workforce and broad range of high-value products …

“We will now be able to melt scrap steel to create high-value-added products and I hope that, in due course, we will do so using renewable power.”

UK Business Secretary Greg Clark said: “Acquiring Tata’s Speciality Steels business in South Yorkshire and West Midlands, which manufactures high quality steel for some of the UK’s world leading industries such as aerospace and automotive is a great opportunity for Liberty House.”