Adams: New identity

Mumbai, Sept. 27: Corus, a brand that was born in 1999, when British Steel merged with Dutch firm Hoogovens BV, will cease to exist. Instead, Corus factories across the UK will now bear the name and logo of its Indian owners, Tata Steel of the $70.8-billion Tata group, starting Monday.

Tata Steel has kicked off this rebranding at a time the world’s seventh largest steel maker is emerging from recession and has posted a turnaround in the European markets and returned to profit. The exercise is expected to be a gradual process that will first encompass Corus’ locations, vehicles and product deliveries.

Tata Steel acquired the Anglo Dutch steel maker for over $13 billion in April 2007. The combined Tata Steel group has an aggregate capacity of more than 28 million tonnes and around 80,000 employees across four continents. “The firms that comprise Tata Steel Europe have evolved over many decades from local to national to regional players. They now form part of one of the world’s Top 10 steel makers, with a wide product range,” Tata Steel Europe MD Kirby Adams said.