Any takeover will bring job fears for people employed at 14 sites in the region, including Wombourne, Wednesfield, Walsall and Oldbury.

Bosses from the two companies have been in secret talks to discuss a deal. Tata said it was “evaluating various opportunities including Corus”, although it warned there was no certainty an offer would be made.

Corus has been in the bid spotlight for months and shares soared 12 per cent today to value the steel firm at £4.1 billion.

Reports in India suggested Tata, the country’s biggest privately-owned steelmaker, is willing to pay around £5 billion for Corus.

Tata is a £25 billion business with 96 different operations worldwide, including hotels, telecommunications, Tata Cars and a tea business that owns the Tetley brand.

In a statement today it said: “Tata Steel is reviewing a number of global opportunities. In this context, Tata Steel is evaluating various opportunities, including Corus

“However, there can be no certainty that an approach will be made and, if made, that it will result in an offer for Corus.”

Corus was formed by the merger of British Steel and Dutch firm Hoogovens in 1999. Since then the UK the workforce has been slashed from 34,000 to 25,000 as the business struggled to make a profit.

In the Black Country, Corus once operated 18 plants and employed more than 2,000 people.

That has been cut by around a third in the past six years, although a new site opened earlier this year in Brierley Hill, creating 40 jobs, as part of a new steel distribution service.

By Simon Penfold

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