M&M may only be interested in Land Rover

Utility vehicles and car manufacturer Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) will go ahead with the race to acquire the two iconic British brands, Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) primarily to tap into Land Rovers' vast technological assets.

Both the brands were put on the block by owner Ford Motor Company (FMC) owing to lack of upliftment in sales performance primarily due to the ailing luxury brand Jaguar. FMC refused to entertain requests of any bidder who expressed interest only in Land Rover as both the brands were declared as a 'joint package'.

Speaking on the sidelines of the CII Manufacturing summit, Hemant Luthra, executive director, Mahindra and Mahindra, said, "Work is in process. Anand (Mahindra) and Pawan Goenka are looking at options."

Mahindra will directly benefit from the technological advancements made by Land Rover, funded by FMC over the years. Access to Land Rovers' technology has driven M&M to enter the race for both the brands. "The technology that Land Rover has makes sense for M&M", Luthra added.

The bid for JLR by Mahindra and Mahindra falls in line with the company's strategy of becoming a full fledged utility vehicle player worldwide having a variety of product offerings. In an earlier interview with Business Standard, Pawan Goenka, president-automotive sector, M&M, said: "We want to promote the M&M brand as a utility vehicle maker worldwide and we are working in line with that."

Luthra also said that by 2010 the automotive division of the Rs 18,500 crore M&M group will go in for an acquisition strategy. The company wants to agressively pursue its North American plan, as the US remains the largest market for all types of utility vehicles including pick-up trucks. The company has already initiated plans to launch the Scorpio in that country.

M&M has stayed away from auctions (bidding) processes of many companies that were put up for sale in the recent past. Most of the acquisition made by the company have been through direct equity buy-out of the target company. But the company may change its inorganic business model for JLR as Luthra said, "One  cannot say that we would never change our model of growth. If the best deal has to come through auction then we will go for it."

Ford's JLR auction, which is expected to be wrapped up by the end of this year or early next year, has seen names of many interested bidders. Apart from Tata Motors, M&M and One Equity, which according to news reports emerged as the final bidders after bidding rounds were carried out by FMC in the earlier months, the two brands saw other companies, especially private equity players like TPG, Cereberus, Ripplewood among others.