French court backs British Steel as buyer of Ascoval plant

STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - British Steel won approval from a French court to buy the Ascoval plant in northern France, in a deal that should help save jobs at the site and allow British Steel to expand in Europe as the domestic UK economy remains impacted by Brexit.

The fortunes of the UK steelmaker have recovered under private investment firm Greybull Capital, which specialises in turning around struggling businesses.

British Steel was formed as a new company in 2016, after the Indian group Tata Steel sold a division to Greybull Capital for a token amount of one pound.

(Reporting by Gilbert Reilhac; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)