Tata Motors, one of the leading automobile companies in India, has acquired the two luxury car brands of the US carmaker company Ford Motor Co, named the Jaguar and Land Rover on Wednesday. Ford has made the official announcement regarding the deal on Wednesday and said that the Tata Motors has acquired the brands for an amount of $2.3 billion, to be paid by cash. The company also said that it is expecting the deal to be completed totally by the end of the next quarter of this current fiscal.
The sources related to the deal have informed that the two companies were discussing each other for a quite long period for the deal and the cost was the only remaining blank to be filled. That gap has been filled up on Wednesday and the companies have signed a definitive agreement for the brands, plants and intellectual property rights of JLR on the same day. The sources added that the Tata Motors has acquired the brand with a much lower price than what Ford paid for each of the Jaguar and Land Rover, when it acquired them in 1989 and 2000, respectively.
According to a statement from Tata Motors, the Ford Motor Co is going to contribute up to about $600 million to the Jaguar Land Rover pension plans after the completion of the deal. The statement added that it is going to make the acquisition through one of its UK-based subsidiary company. The Chairman of the Tata Group, Mr. Ratan Tata has expressed his happiness after clinching the deal and said that they are not planning to change the identities of the brands and it will be kept "intact". He also said, "We are very pleased at the prospect of Jaguar and Land Rover being a significant part of our automotive business. We have enormous respect for the two brands and will endeavour to preserve and build on their heritage and competitiveness, keeping their identities intact".
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| Posted : 3/28/2008 |
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