Tata Motors' Acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover

Forming a part of the purchase consideration were JLR's manufacturing plants, two advanced design centers in the UK¹⁰, national sales companies spanning across the world, and also licenses of all necessary intellectual property rights. Tata Motors had several major international acquisitions to its credit. It had acquired Tetley, South Korea-based Daewoo's commercial vehicle unit, and Anglo-Dutch Steel maker Corus (Refer to Exhibit I for the details of the group's international acquisitions). Tata Motors' long-term strategy included consolidating its position in the domestic Indian market and expanding its international footprint by leveraging on in-house capabilities and products and also through acquisitions and strategic collaborations.

On acquiring JLR, Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Group, said, "We are very pleased at the prospect of Jaguar and Land Rover being a significant part of our automotive business. We have enormous respect for the two brands and will endeavor to preserve and build on their heritage and competitiveness, keeping their identities intact. We aim to support their growth, while holding true to our principles of allowing the management and employees to bring their experience and expertise to bear on the growth of the business."¹¹ Ford had bought Jaguar for US$ 2.5 billion in 1989 and Land Rover for US$ 2.7 billion in 2000. However, over the years, the company found that it was failing to derive the desired benefits from these acquisitions...