Tata Steel has made announcement that its arm, NatSteel Holdings Pte, has sold around 27.03% equity stake in Southern Steel Berhad, Malaysia.

The deal is valued at $72 million.

In a declaration, the company said, "The sale is part of Tata Steel's strategy of restructuring its portfolio and reconsidering its position in geographies where it does not have a majority control."

"The company will continue to explore various opportunities to grow its South East Asian business in the future," the statement added.

The statement also said that the deal is subject to sanction of Bursa Malaysia and other related regulatory authorities.

On its books, the total debt of the company stood at $12.9 billion.

It plans to prepay around 112.5 million pounds of Corus debt in 2010.

Koushik Chatterjee, Group CFO, Tata Steel, had in November 2009 said the firm will sell its non-core portfolios and the proceeds will be used to lower the mammoth debt on its books. (With Inputs from Agencies)