British industrialist Sanjeev Gupta appears to have saved South Australia’s Whyalla steelworks after securing refinancing in place of funding from its major lender Greensill.

GFG Alliance said Liberty Primary Metals Australia had agreed terms to refinance the Greensill exposure.

“The new financing is sufficient to pay out its Greensill debt in full and to provide on-going working capital for the LPMA group, which includes the integrated mining and primary steel business at Whyalla and its coking coal mine at Tahmoor,” GFG said in a statement on Wednesday.

The setting of conditions and documentation is expected to be completed within four weeks.

“GFG Alliance is in continuous discussions with multiple financiers on a competitive basis for various parts of its business and is committed to securing sustainable funding solutions to replace funding provided by Greensill,” it said.

The decision could impact on the direction of court action by Citibank, acting on behalf of Credit Suisse, launched in an attempt to wind up two of Mr Gupta’s operations – OneSteel Manufacturing and Tahmoor Coal.

SA Premier Steven Marshall said it was an important day for the Whyalla community and workers.

“The workers of Whyalla deserve enormous credit for the recent, much improved performance of the Whyalla Steelworks, which has contributed to this refinancing,” he said.

“The South Australian and federal governments have worked closely together to give potential financiers the confidence to back Whyalla.”

-AAP