Tata Technologies plans IPO next year

Tata Technologies, the specialist engineering and design company of the Tata Group, will make an initial public offering next year to repay debts and fund expansion.

David Myers, chief financial officer, INCAT Ltd, the UK-based Tata Technologies company, said today that the company had lined up major expansion plans towards increasing revenues from the current $220 million to $500 million by 2010. INCAT has a staff of about 3,000, serving clients worldwide from facilities in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. About 2,300 of its employees are based in Pune and about 210 at three offices in Bristol, Coventry and Luton in the UK. The company also plans to double its staff in the next three years. INCAT, which provides engineering and design services to automotive, aerospace and general manufacturing industries, was acquired by Tata Technologies in 2005 for £53.40 million.

The UK business accounts for about 20 per cent of Tata Technologies' turnover.

However, INCAT is looking to India as a resource pool, as also for growth. It also plans to set up an office in Bangalore.

INCAT has more than 200 clients in the UK, including strategic ones like Jaguar and Land Rover.

Press Trust of India reports: Tata Motors is keen to buy Jaguar and Land Rover, the UK brands of American auto giant Ford. But Myers declined to comment on the issue, only saying that INCAT's relationship with Jaguar and Land Rover was about four years old. "We have over 200 clients in the UK and JLR is certainly one of the most important among them," Myers said. "We have helped them with designing a software for their portfolio and currently we have a team of about 60 INCAT engineers working at JLR."

Yesterday, S A Hasan, managing director of Tata Ltd, a Tata Group subsidiary, had said that the group was serious about buying Jaguar and Land Rover.

Tata Motors is also INCAT's biggest customer across the world.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), another Tata group company, also shares some of the product offerings from INCAT.

"There have been occasions when we have worked with TCS. It is also one of our biggest competitors in the market as it also provides similar products and services," Myers said.