Ford sells Jaguar/Land Rover to Tata: source
|
|
|
| Posted
:
Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:39:04 GMT |
| By
:
Reuters |
| Category
:
US (Business) |
| News Alerts by
Email ( click
here ) |
|
US Business News |
Home
|
|
|
|
By Pete Harrison and Mathieu RobbinsLONDON (Reuters) - U.S. automaker Ford has agreed to sell its luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover to India's Tata Motors for more than $2 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter.Ford, which signed the deal on Tuesday, plans to publicly announce the transaction in New York at 8:00 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, said another source.The deal will also see Ford pay about 300 million pounds ($598 million) into Jaguar and Land Rovers' pension funds, according to unions.Ford declined to comment, adding "our first responsibility is to communicate with our employees."The sale had been expected at the start of this month, but it was delayed as the two firms discussed their future relationship, including technology sharing and Ford's provision of engines and body parts for the two brands.Tata, India's top vehicle maker, has been in talks with Ford since it was chosen as the frontrunner to buy Jaguar and Land Rover a few days into 2008.Tata is pursuing the deal to gain a substantial foothold outside India.But analysts have questioned how Tata will incorporate the luxury brands into its stable of sturdy trucks and functional passenger cars, including the Nano, the world's cheapest car which it unveiled in January.While Land Rover has generated three years of record sales with its iconic SUVs, the fit of Jaguar is far less clear.Ford, which lost $2.7 billion in 2007 and $12.6 billion in 2006, is spinning off Jaguar and Land Rover to focus on turning around its loss-making operations in North America.The sale will include a commitment by Tata to continue buying engines from Ford, according to unions.All Jaguar and Land Rover's petrol engines are built in a Ford plant in South Wales, supporting hundreds of jobs there. Diesel engines come from Ford's factory in Dagenham, east London.One of the sources knocked down reports on Indian television earlier on Tuesday that the deal had been closed for $2.65 billion."That figure of $2.65 billion is highly unlikely," one source close to the deal said of the report on news channel NDTV Profit. "You have to come south from that by quite a bit."Ahead of the TV report, shares in Tata Motors rose 2.7 percent to a three-week closing high of 679.95 rupees, in a Mumbai market <.BSESN> that surged 6.1 percent.Ford shares were down 0.2 percent at around $5.95 at 1813 GMT (2:13 a.m. EDT).(Additional reporting by Hiral Vora and Narayanan Somasundaram; Editing by John Mair/Rory Channing/David Cowell)
(c) Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Related News
Five more US bank failures bring total for 2009 to 120
New York - Bank failures in the United States have risen to 120 this year as five more regional institutions were added to the list, the US agency that guarantees the safety of bank deposits said. United Commercial Bank in San Francisco with assets o...
US stocks climb slightly despite double-digit jobless rate
New York - US stocks posted mild gains Friday to end the week as investors shrugged off government figures that put the unemployment rate above 10 per cent. The Labour Department said the jobless rate hit 10.2 per cent in the month of October, the hi...
US joblessness hits 10.2 per cent, highest in 26 years - Summary
Washington - The US unemployment rate surged to 10.2 per cent in October, the highest in 26 years as another 190,000 people lost their jobs, the Labour Department reported Friday. The figure comes after a 9.8-per-cent jobless rate in September and wa...
US joblessness jumps to 10.2 per cent, highest since 1983 - Update
Washington - The US unemployment rate surged to 10.2 per cent in October, the highest in 26 years, as another 190,000 people lost their jobs during the month, the US reported Friday. The figure reported by US Labour Department came after the 9.8 per ...
US jobless rate jumps to 10.2 per cent
Washington - The US unemployment rate surged to 10.2 per cent in October as another 190,000 people lost their jobs, according to US Labour Department figures released Friday. The jobless rate stood at 9.8 per cent in September. Unemployment had been ...
Bulls stop James, edge Cavs - Summary
Los Angeles - The King couldn't deliver in the clutch. Luol Deng and Joakim Noah combined to deny LeBron James a potential game-winning drive in the final seconds as and the visiting Chicago Bulls snapped the Cleveland Cavaliers' three-game winning...
Mortgage lender Fannie Mae posts nearly 19-billion-dollar loss
Washington - US mortgage lender Fannie Mae said Thursday that it would seek 15 billion dollars in federal aid, after posting its ninth consecutive quarterly loss. Fannie Mae reported a net loss of 18.9 billion dollars in the third quarter of 2009, co...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
