London: Tata Motors, India's biggest automobile company, is understood to be in early stages of evaluating a bid for acquiring the Jaguar and Land Rover marques from Ford Motor, British media reports said.
Tata Motors is understood to have instructed advisers in the past fortnight to begin evaluating the merits of a joint offer for Jaguar and Land Rover, which have been earmarked for disposal by struggling American car giant Ford, The Daily Telegraph said.
If successful, it would rank among India's biggest overseas takeover deals, the report said, citing unidentified sources. When contacted, a Tata Motors spokesperson said: "We have absolutely no comments to make."
Tata Group has been involved in major overseas takeovers in recent times, including the £6.7 billion acquisition of Anglo-Dutch steel company Corus through Tata Steel earlier this year.
"Analysts suggest that Jaguar and Land Rover may fetch about $1.5 billion to Ford. Besides, people close to the situation say Tata Motors' evaluation of a bid was at an 'exploratory' stage and may not lead to a formal bid for the two brands," London's the Telegraph said.
The report also said Tata Motors is understood to have signed a confidentiality agreement with Ford in recent days. Besides Tata, other car makers may be interested in bidding, while a formal auction would also be likely to attract private equity firms, it added.
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