According to a report, British investor Michael Flacks is highly interested in acquiring British Steel and merging it with an Italian plant to create one of Europe's largest metals groups. 

Flacks Group, a Miami-based investment firm specializing in distressed assets, is collaborating with bankers to prepare a bid for the government-controlled Scunthorpe steelworks, which has struggled with profitability amid global steel oversupply from China. 

The facility has changed hands multiple times before the UK government intervened last year with emergency legislation amid concerns the Chinese owner might abandon operations. Any prospective buyer would need to invest hundreds of millions of pounds to replace outdated blast furnaces with cleaner electric arc technology while addressing losses that reached £700,000 daily. 

Flacks Group, already negotiating to acquire Italy's former Ilva steelworks with €5bn in financing, aims to combine both producers to capitalize on European preference for local steel suppliers.