Landie - History - Sale To Tata

Sale To Tata

In June 2007, Ford Motor Company announced its plan to sell Land Rover, along with Jaguar. Ford retained the services of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC to advise it on the details of the deal. The buyer was initially expected to be announced by September 2007, but the sale was delayed and an announcement was not made until March 2008. A UK-based private equity firm, Alchemy Partners, and the India-headquartered Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra expressed interest in purchasing Jaguar and Land Rover from the Ford Motor Company.

Before the sale was announced, Anthony Bamford, chairman of British excavators manufacturer JCB, had expressed interest in purchasing Jaguar Cars in August, the year previously; only to back out when told the sale would also involve Land Rover, which he did not wish to buy. Tata Motors received endorsements from the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU)-Amicus combine and Ford as a preferred bidder.

In March 2008, Ford announced that it had agreed to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover operations to Tata Motors, and that the sale was expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2008. On 2 June 2008, the sale to Tata Motors was completed by both parties. Included in the deal were the rights to three other British brands: Jaguar's own Daimler marque, as well as two dormant brands Lanchester and Rover. BMW and Ford had previously retained ownership of the Rover brand to protect the integrity of the Land Rover brand, with which 'Rover' might be confused in the US 4x4 market; the Rover brand was originally used under license by MG Rover until it collapsed in 2005, at which point it was re-acquired by the then Ford Motor Company owned Land Rover Limited.