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Indian firms submit bids for Jaguar, Land Rover |
NEW DELHI: Top Indian vehicle makers Tata Motors and Mahindra have submitted their final bids for luxury British car brands Jaguar and Land Rover, reports said yesterday.
The bids were submitted to the Ford Motor Co late on Wednesday, the reports said, and come as Indian companies have embarked on an unprecedented buying spree, fuelled by robust corporate profits and easier international financing.
The offers from the bidders, which also include US-based private equity firm One Equity Partners group led by former Ford chief executive Jacques Nasser, were likely to be in the range of 1.5-2.2 bn dollars, the reports said, quoting investment banking sources.
“The bids for the deluxe brands are competitive, and it will be a close call,” the Economic Times reported. Analysts had earlier pegged the value of the two brands at around 1.5bn dollars.
Mahindra and Mahindra, India’s top utility vehicle maker, was expected to place a joint bid with US-based buyout firm Apollo Capital.
Mahindra and Tata Motors, India’s third-ranked carmaker and leading bus and truck producer, would not comment on the reports.
British unions have backed Tata Motors, part of the Tata conglomerate, because they believe it offers the best long-term future as the group already has a British presence through its steel, tea and other interests.
Tata’s interest also is in keeping with its parent’s growing appetite for overseas acquisitions.
Early this year, Tata Steel bought Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus for 13.7bn dollars, India’s biggest foreign takeover.
Mahindra is keen to widen its overseas presence for its vehicles.
The Detroit-based auto giant Ford “is expected to consider these bids later next week and the buyer will be announced by the end of this year,” said a source close to the transaction, India’s Hindustan Times reported.
Other reports said the announcement may be made early in the new year.
According to analysts, such an acquisition would give Indian players access superior technology.
“The immediate benefit will be access to state-of-the-art technology. Secondly, there can be outsourcing of auto components,” Chirag Shah of Mumbai-based Emkay Stockbroking told the Hindustan Times.
Loss-making Ford is selling off the two marques as it restructures its North American operations. Ford bought Jaguar in 1989 for 2.5bn dollars and Land Rover from Germany’s BMW in 2000 for 2.7bn dollars. - AFP |
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