Jingye Group, the steelmaker, has completed its buyout of British Steel, reviving a business that was placed into compulsory liquidation last May and saving more than 3,000 jobs.

In a statement the group said it had completed the acquisition of British Steel’s UK and Dutch assets from the official receiver and confirmed it planned to invest £1.2bn in the company. About 3,200 staff have been offered contracts, while 400 were told this week that they would be made redundant when the sale closes.

Jingye had said last week it would buy British Steel‘s main plant in Scunthorpe, even though it had not had a reply from the French government about a French unit seen as a potential obstacle to the deal.

“It has not been an easy journey since we first announced our intentions in November,” said Li Huiming, Jingye’s chief executive.

France regards British Steel‘s operations there as a strategic activity because it supplies the railway company SNCF, and said last week four bidders had expressed interest in buying that unit.

Jingye indicated on Monday it still hoped to buy the French operations at Hayange. “[It] is still subject to further negotiations with the relevant authorities in France and is hoped to be concluded separately,” the statement said.

The Chinese group said its investment plans included installing an electric arc furnace, which makes products from recycled steel, building a more efficient power plant and launching a new line for steel rebar, a product mainly used in construction.

British Steel was placed into compulsory liquidation last May after private equity firm Greybull Capital, which bought it for a token £1 from Tata Steel in 2016, failed to secure funding to continue its operations.

Globally, the steel sector is under pressure from weak demand, aggravated by the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.