Tata, M&M submit revised bid for Land Rover, Jaguar

LONDON: Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and a third player in race to acquire US auto giant Ford Motor Co's two British brands, Land Rover and Jaguar, have submitted their revised bids, a UK report said.
    
The three parties were asked to submit revised bids after being given access to more data about the brands and following meetings with the trade unions and politicians, 'The Times' said in a report citing an unidentified source.
    
Private equity firm OneEquity, which is led by former Ford chief executive Jac Nasser, is the third party interested in acquiring the two marquees from the ailing US automaker.
    
'The Times' said Ford will select a preferred bidder within two weeks, before negotiations with pension trustees. It is not expected to make its choice public until it has signed a memorandum of understanding, the report said.
    
The daily quoted the source as saying that Ford wanted the bids to include more details of financing arrangements in the wake of concerns over deepening credit crunch.
    
Last year, the two brands had a pension deficit of about 200 million pounds, the report said, adding pensions were not a significant issue for the bidders or the unions.