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It seems now that Indian conglomerate Tata is now the frontrunner for the purchase of both Jaguar and Land Rover.
Ford Motor *** which currently owns both luxury marques, is trying to sell them together, no doubt because Jaguar is a loss-making, fund-draining operation, while Land Rover was among Ford’s most profitable brands.
Tata is not without competitors, however, One Equity, led by Jac Nasser onetime Ford executive, and Mahindra and Mahindra with American buyout firm Apollo are still very much interested in purchasing the brands.
As it stands, the winner should be ready to shell out around $3 billion in order to purchase the marques, that price likely to include a payment into the companies’ pension funds, of which are in deficit.
Our take? Whoever wins will have a hard road ahead of them. The high end brands require lots of capital to ensure continued development and competitiveness. It would be interesting, though, to see a one time British colony own two of Britain’s most storied franchises. It would also give Tata inroads into the American marketplace that it would not otherwise have had.
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