Hambro Leaves Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG After Clash on Aluminum Deal

(Bloomberg) -- Jay Hambro, chief investment officer at Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance, is leaving the group after falling out with his boss over the sale of its aluminum assets, according to people familiar with the matter.

Hambro, a scion of the British banking family, joined GFG in 2016 and has been one of Gupta’s closest and most senior lieutenants. But he recently stopped taking any active role in GFG’s operations, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public.

Hambro declined to comment, as did a spokesman for GFG.

The departure of one of Gupta’s top lieutenants is the latest in a series of dramas playing out across the businessman’s empire.

Gupta is battling to maintain control of his group following the collapse of his main lender, Greensill Capital, in March, and the announcement of an investigation into alleged fraud and money laundering by the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office in May. At the same time, skyrocketing steel and aluminum prices have made GFG’s assets attractive to a range of suitors.

Hambro’s relationship with Gupta soured after he became involved with a private equity bid for GFG’s aluminum assets, people familiar with the matter said earlier this month.

In April, U.S. private equity group American Industrial Partners bought most of the senior debt on Gupta’s two main aluminum assets -- the Dunkirk smelter in France and the Duffel rolling mill in Belgium -- and then made a bid to buy them. Under AIP’s plan, Hambro would have left GFG when the assets were sold and taken a job as a top executive of the newly separate aluminum group, Bloomberg previously reported.

Gupta, disappointed by Hambro’s willingness to jump ship as well as the relatively low price offered by AIP, rejected the bid, instead agreeing a financing and trading deal with Glencore Plc.

But the battle for Gupta’s aluminum assets is not yet over. AIP has responded by pushing the company that owns the Duffel plant into administration, leading to Gupta being ousted and then temporarily reinstated to the plant’s board.

It’s not clear whether Hambro, who has long been one of the public faces of Gupta’s business in dealing with banks, investors and the media, will be replaced. Gupta in May appointed a raft of new senior executives to his main steel business, including a chief financial officer, chief restructuring officer, chief transformation officer and chief governance officer.

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