Indian automakers Tata Motors and the Mahindra group are considering separate bids to buy luxury British car brands Jaguar and Land Rover from struggling US carmaker Ford Motor Corp, media reports said yesterday.
Ford announced last month that it was considering selling off the two iconic marques as it restructures its North American operations.
Media reports have pegged the deal as worth US$1.3 billion to US$1.5 billion.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Tata Motors, India's biggest automobile company, has appointed advisers to evaluate a bid and signed a confidentiality agreement with Ford to access financial details of the two brands, which have a combined British workforce of 19,000, the Business Standard daily quoted unnamed sources as saying.
The move would be in keeping with Tata group's growing appetite for overseas acquisition targets.
Earlier this year, Tata Steel bought Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus for US$13.7 billion, India's biggest ever takeover of a foreign firm.
Leading tractor and utility vehicle maker Mahindra and Mahindra, which formed a joint venture this year with France's Renault and Japan's Nissan, had also signed a confidentiality agreement with the US carmaker, the Economic Times reported.
BMW
Ford bought Jaguar in 1989 for US$2.5 billion and Land Rover from Germany's BMW in 2000 for US$2.7 billion.
Spokesmen for Tata and Mahindra declined to comment on the bids.
The Economic Times said that Mahindra and Mahindra's real interest is in Land Rover, but since the two brands are being offered as a package deal it is looking at a combined bid.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from