With Tatas leading the race for US car maker Ford's marquee brands -- Jaguar and Land Rover, the possible sale to the Indian conglomerate is expected to strengthen the Indo-UK merger and acquisition activities.
NEW DELHI: With Tatas leading the race for US car maker Ford's marquee brands -- Jaguar and Land Rover, the possible sale to the Indian conglomerate is expected to strengthen the Indo-UK merger and acquisition activities, says a new report.
The cross-border merger and acquisition deals has already touched 46 billion dollars so far this year, said the India-focused cross-border advisory firm IndusView Advisors.
The firm pointed out that the nearly two-billion-dollar bidding for the the two luxury brands by Tatas and Mahindra and Mahindra is symbolic of the "evolving Indian businesses making a mark in the global market place."
Already, companies from India and UK were involved in two of the largest deals -- buyout of India's leading telecom operator Hutchison Essar Ltd by the UK's Vodafone Group Plc and the acquisition of the UK's largest steelmaker Corus Group Plc by Tata Steel Ltd.
The Daily Telegraph has separately reported that Tata Group has emerged as a favourite to takeover Ford's British marquees.
Commenting on the possible sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to Tatas, chairman of IndusView Advisors Bundeep Singh Rangar said, "With the deal expected to go to the Indian conglomerate, the moment will be historic as it will mark the automotive sectors entry into the elite billion dollar acquisitions club."
The report noted that Tata Group has been active in the UK for a long time with acquisitions including that of tea manufacturer Tetley Group for 407 million dollars.
"Key to such billion dollar acquisitions is the management of the post acquisition integration costs. As skepticism looms large among industry analysts with regards to the loss making Fords marques - Jaguar and Land Rover, one company I would bet on being able to get the integration cost down is Tata Group. It is a company that has been brilliant in execution pretty much so far," Rangar added.
Interestingly, the automotive sector has seen deals worth more than 633 million dollars so far this year, surpassing 517 million dollars total worth of 23 deals reached last year, the report said.
On the other hand, statistics available with Think London, an agency which promotes investment into the city, Indian investment contributed about 67 million dollars to the London economy in 2006-07.
Meanwhile, the investments by Indian companies during fiscal year 2006-07 created more than 5,000 jobs in UK, according to that country's Department of Trade and Industry.
In terms of the number of new projects announced in UK, India is ranked third with 69 projects, just behind France (95 projects) and the US (540 projects).
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