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Ministers are this week finalising the first emergency coronavirus funding deal that paves the way for British taxpayers to become direct shareholders in a private sector company.

Sky News has learnt that a £30m government loan package being finalised with Celsa UK Holdings - a subsidiary of Spain's Celsa, one of Europe's biggest steel producers - will include an option on warrants for significant minority stake in the business.

A source close to the situation said on Tuesday that government officials had driven "a hard bargain" over the terms of the loan to the company.

The existing lenders, which are understood to include TSB's owner Banco Sabadell, and government have agreed heads-of-terms on the package, with a formal signing expected in the next couple of days.

One insider said taxpayers were expected to make a loan of £30m, with Celsa Steel UK's existing lenders putting in a further £40m of debt funding.

The government loan would have an option on warrants, meaning that it could convert into a stake of up to 20% if certain conditions are triggered.

Sources said there was no guarantee that the warrants would be exercised, meaning that the deal could remain a debt-funding package only.

Celsa UK Holdings includes Celsa Steel UK, which is Britain's largest producer of reinforcement steel, as well as fabrication operations distributed across the country.

In total, the group employs about 1,600 people in the UK, with the majority based at its plants in Cardiff.

The structure of the government's impending loan agreement underlines the Treasury's willingness to consider taking direct shareholdings in companies it regards as being of strategic importance to key industries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Its assessment of loan requests from companies which are unable to access other coronavirus support schemes is being undertaken through Project Birch - the existence of which was revealed by Sky News last month.

Some companies have been unable to access the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme or the Covid Corporate Financing Facility, either for reasons of eligibility or because the funding they provide is not sufficient to ease funding challenges.

During the crisis, companies including McLaren Group, Petroineos, Jaguar Land Rover and Virgin Atlantic Airways have all made such requests.

The steel industry is deemed by senior ministers to be of strategic importance, meaning the government is expected to view other funding demands from major producers sympathetically.

One industry figure said the willingness to consider more direct support for the sector underlined the business background of a number of government ministers, as well as advisers such as Richard Sharp, the former Goldman Sachs banker who has been drafted in to work during the crisis with Rishi Sunak, the chancellor.

"This sends a clear message to the steel sector that the government is serious about helping it, but that there is no such thing as free money," an insider said.

Tata Steel UK, owner of the vast steelworks at Port Talbot, has approached ministers about securing a £500m government loan, while talks have also been taking place between officials and other players in the sector, including Liberty Steel and British Steel, which is now owned by the Chinese conglomerate Jingye Group.

The government has sought to emphasise that companies should be exploring securing financing from existing shareholders and lenders before approaching it for taxpayers' support.

Ed Miliband, the shadow business secretary, told the Financial Times recently that it would be "legitimate" for ministers to take equity stakes in steel producers and other key manufacturers.

UK Steel, the industry trade association, has also pleaded for more government support.

Celsa, which is one of Europe's biggest steel groups, has also sought access to government guarantee schemes in Spain.

The company employs more than 9,000 people around the world.

Celsa Steel UK could not be reached for comment, while the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy declined to comment.