Jaguar Land Rover contributed 95 per cent of the combined profits of the Tata Motors group last quarter. A minority listing of the UK firm would let the Indian parent book a healthy return on its $2.3 billion purchase, and allow JLR to raise cheap capital overseas. There’s no need to keep this gem hidden.Tata Motors should be rightly proud of the success it has achieved in reviving JLR’s fortunes. The firm delighted the market with better than expected results in the third quarter ending December 2011, sending its shares up almost 13 per cent in two days.The chief executive of Tata Motors stepped down in September last year. No replacement has yet been found. That suggests there’s no rush to bring in a leader for the group as a whole, and that the two firms, the domestic business and JLR, can run happily as separate concerns. Rather than try to integrate and search for synergies, Tata could split JLR out completely and sell a minority of its shares in an initial public offering.A flotation would bring Tata cash, which it could use to pay down some of its $4-billion debt. And a listed JLR would find credit cheaper if more debt were needed to fund investments. Alternatively, it would presumably have more highly valued shares than its parent — helpful if acquisition opportunities come along.Tata’s domestic motor operations would also stand to benefit from stripping out JLR. Management could focus on increasing market share in India. It currently trails the likes of Maruti Suzuki and faces stiff competition from foreign players keen to grab a slice of one of the world’s fastest growing markets.
And, even with a foreign stock market listing, JLR need not cut its Indian ties. It could still increase both sales and production there. Tata would remain the majority owner, after all. Corporate patriarch Ratan Tata was reported to have considered a listing in 2011 until the IPO market faltered. Stock market conditions remain a constraint, but as and when investor appetite returns, a listing for the British business makes sense.