MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Land Rover and Jaguar now belong to Tata from India

India's top car manufacturer Tata Motors Ltd. Announced on Monday it had completed the 2.3 billion US dollars acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover. The deal, which was agreed in March, includes all necessary intellectual property rights, manufacturing plants, two advanced design centres in the UK and a worldwide network of sales companies, Tata Motors said in a statement.

The brands were bought from Ford Motor Co, which has contributed about 600 million US dollars to the Jaguar and Land Rover pension plans, and long-term agreements have been entered into for the supply of engines, stampings and other components. "Jaguar and Land Rover are two iconic British brands (and) will retain their distinctive identities and continue to pursue their respective business plans as before" Chairman Ratan Tata said in the statement. "We recognise the significant improvement in the performance of the two brands and look forward to this trend continuing in the coming years". David Smith, the acting chief executive of Jaguar and Land Rover, will be the new chief executive. Tata Motors last week said it would raise up to 1.7 billion US dollars from three rights issues to help fund the acquisition. On completion of these issues, it would also raise a further 600 million US dollars from an overseas equity issues. Other areas of transition support from Ford include IT, accounting and access to test facilities. The companies will also cooperate in areas such as design and development through sharing of platforms and joint development of hybrid technologies and power-train engineering, Tata Motors said. The Ford Motor Credit Company will continue to provide financing for Jaguar Land Rover dealers and customers for a period, and Tata Motors said it was in advanced negotiations with auto finance providers in the UK, Europe and the United States. Tata Motors, India's top bus and truck maker and number 3 car maker, has sought to expand its presence in the global markets through alliances and acquisitions in recent years. It bought South Korea's Daewoo Commercial Vehicles in 2004, and has a minority stake in Spanish bus maker Hispano Carrocera. It also has ventures with Thailand's Thonburi for pick-up trucks and with Italy's Fiat for manufacturing, distribution and technology, as it gears up for tougher competition at home.