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Our Bureau

Mumbai, Dec 20 Even as Christmas celebrations are in the air, expectations are rife in the UK that Friday could see the Tata Group being named as suitor to buy Ford’s high-profile Jaguar and Land Rover brands.

Friday will see the last production shift at Jaguar-Land Rover (JLR), before they close for Christmas and New Year, said overseas media-reports. And Friday may also see details of the winning bid, most likely to be from the Tatas, being shared with JLR workers, the report said.

However, there had been no meeting between the winning bidder and the union on Thursday, a Unite spokesperson told Business Line from London. Unite is the merged entity comprising the Transport and General Workers Union (T&G) and amicus. They too close for year-end celebrations tomorrow.

According to another overseas report, Ford’s spokesperson said it was unlikely that the final announcement of the winning bidder could be made tomorrow. Chances were it would be after the festive year-end.

The bidders have met union representatives in the past, the Unite representative said. Unite’s stand had been that, while they prefer to be part of Ford, if sale was inevitable, they felt the best interests of the workforce would be served by a partner with an established presence and background in manufacturing. And the Tatas best fit this criteria, he said.

Meanwhile, top-brass from the Tata Group are said to have parked themselves in the UK. Tatas had reportedly offered $2.05 billion for the two iconic brands, putting a spanner in the plans of a rival bid from Mahindra & Mahindra’s at $1.9 billion.

Tata’s prospects of sealing the deal seem to increase, with unconfirmed reports claiming that M&M had opted out of the race and Ford apparently not too favourably inclined to OneEquity, the other bidder in the fray.

More Stories on : Cars | Mergers & Acquisitions | Brands | Overseas Investments | Tata Motors Ltd

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