The giant automobile company in India, Tata Motors has stated that it is very close to close the highly discussed deal for acquiring the brands of Jaguar and Land Rover, with the world famous auto-maker Ford. The sources from the company have informed that the deal is likely to be finalized within Wednesday and the US carmaker would make the final announcement on the same day. The sources added that the Tata Motors is going to seal the deal with an investment of a bit over $2 billion.
The industry sources have stated that this impending acquisition of the two iconic brands by Tata Motors is going to mark another significant step by the tea-to-truck conglomerate towards the globalization of its sprawling business empire. The sources informed that the Tata Steel did acquire the Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus for an investment of $ 12.9 billion, in the last year. The sources added that Tata Motors has become successful to get the support of the major trade unions of Jaguar and Land Rover behind the take over and the union has actually supported the Tatas bid for the two brands all through the negotiations.
The sources related to the dealings between Ford and Tata Motors have informed that the Tata Motors became the front-runner for the deal in the early part of January, this year, after the other Indian auto major Mahindra & Mahindra and US buyout fund OneEquity edged out of this. The sources added that the company has been having "focused and detailed" discussions with Ford on the acquisition, since then. The sources also said that the agreement is likely to include Fords commitment to continue contributing to the pension funds of the two brands and the Tatas, on their part, are expected to assure the continuation of buying engines for the two brands from Ford. The Indian company is also likely to give its commitment to retain the present workforce of the two brands in the future. The sources further informed that after the agreement is finalized, Ford will make it clear that it will not hold any stake in the two brands, as it is intending to fully concentrate on its North American operations at the moment.
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| Posted : 3/27/2008 |
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