siko

Report: Ford puts Land Rover, Jaguar, Volvo back on the block

Ford has hired investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to pursue the sale of its Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo brands, according to trade publication Automotive News.

As previously reported, BMW considered acquiring Volvo earlier this year in its effort to find a front-wheel-drive specialist to pair with its Mini unit for increased profitability.

According to this latest report, Italian automaker Fiat took a serious look at buying Jaguar and Land Rover, but recently decided to put talks on hold over fears an acquisition would hurt its credit rating.

The sources say Ford is still trying to sell the three companies, but the Fiat and BMW talks have mostly gone cold. The talks are reminiscent of Ford's recent sale of Aston Martin and Daimler-Benz's recent sale of Chrysler, which included numerous suitors and the guidance of investment banks.

Last year, Ford hired Kenneth Leet — a mergers and acquisitions expert who worked at Goldman Sachs and Bank of America — to lead a "strategic review" of the Premier Auto Group, which at the time included Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volvo.

Fiat sought dealer network

Fiat was particularly interested in Land Rover due to its comprehensive dealer network, according to the report. The automaker is planning to bring its Alfa Romeo brand to the Unites States, and Land Rover dealerships would be a great place to sell those vehicles, sources said. Currently, the only place Fiat could sell Alfas in America is Maserati or Ferrari dealers.

Land Rover would also give Fiat a solid entry into the SUV market, where its presence is currently nonexistent.

Renault, equity firm deny interest

Early Monday morning, Renault-Nissan denied it was a possible bidder for Jaguar and Land Rover.

"Of course we absolutely do not confirm this information," a Renault spokesman told Reuters. "(Chief Executive) Carlos Ghosn said last week that the acquisition of a luxury brand would bring nothing to Renault or the Nissan alliance, in the short term," he said.

Meanwhile, U.K. private equity firm Alchemy Partners has denied a Monday newspaper report suggesting it was readying a $5.9 billion offer to buy the two brands.

"There's nothing going on," Alchemy spokesman Richard Oldfield told just-auto. "I understand that [Alchemy managing partner] Jon Moulton said something in the past about being emotionally interested in the brands but that was all."

[Source: LLN]

siko

Fiat Considered buying Jaguar and Land Rover!

Now we’ve heard them all; if BMW’s alleged interest in Volvo raised an eyebrow or two what would you say if we Fiat Group was dead serious in buying Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford Motor Company? Citing sources familiar with the matter, Automotive News is reporting that Ford's talks with Fiat started in February and ended in late May. They involved Fiat group CEO Sergio Marchionne and Ford of Europe boss Lewis Booth, who also heads Premier Automotive Group.

While neither company confirmed the talks Ford spokesman John Gardiner told AN, "Ford Motor Company is continuing to assess a number of strategic options for all of its operations. We're not specifying what they are and what we're evaluating." In other words, you got the dough; we’ve got the will to sell.

Wondering why the hell would Fiat risk buying a sinking ship -aka, Jaguar, and the so and so Land Rover -especially since the Italian carmaker is just recovering? Well, while Fiat must have only been interested in Land Rover, Ford seriously want’s to get rid of Jaguar since its been loosing $500 million to $1 billion a year since 2001, and the only way to achieve that is to sell Jaguar with the more prosperous Land Rover. Back to Fiat, the Italians seem to have wanted Land Rover mainly for two reasons: increased global SUV/Crossover sales and Land Rover's U.S. dealership network that would seriously help Alfa Romeo’s US relaunch in 2009. "Land Rover is a brand many carmakers would love to add to their portfolios - particularly Fiat group, whose five brands are still almost nonexistent in the growing global SUV market," a Turin source said to AN.

So what happened in the end and Fiat bailed out of the talks? According to AN sources, the Italian carmaker halted discussions with Ford because of concern over the potential adverse effect of the acquisition on the Italian carmaker's credit rating.

[Source: Automotive News via Autoblog.com]

Monster

It might look logical on paper, but what will happen when you combine all 3 of the most unreliable brand together. I don't think FIAT has enough financial resources to properply develope future models for both Jag and Land Rover, and they will end up dying quietly. Jag would have been in much better shape if Ford develope the brand properply, they sort of got it right with Land Rover but it is too late now.

Mr. M

I don't quite understand why Jaguar is doing so badly, its XK looks like a stunner and lots of the automotive world loves it. But nobody's buying it, or at least quickly enough. It just needs to get out its XF quick and maybe it can capture some of that mass market profit.

Monster

Sales from the XK alone won't be enough to save Jaguar, even if Jag can make them fast enough, the XF needs to sell at around 5 series or E class volumes to save Jaguar. What they really need now is a proper small Jag. something which looks like this

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the RD6 concept shown in 2003. It has been 4 years and this car is still a concept...

Mr. M

True. When is the X-Type due for a renew anyway?

Monster

I think Jaguar is still trying to decide if they should go ahead with the X-Type replacement or not, i think they should do it as soon as possible, but ofcourse they don't have enough $.

far2000

London - Private equity firm Alchemy Partners is lining up a $5.9 billion bid for US car maker Ford's luxury UK brands Jaguar and Land Rover, the City A.M. newspaper said on Monday.
"I am very interested in a bid for Land Rover and Jaguar in particular," the newspaper quoted Alchemy managing partner Jon Moulton as saying.
It said Ford had hired investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to sell its Premier Automotive Group (PAG), which also includes Volvo as well as the two British-based marques.
The newspaper said other possible bidders could include France's Renault, Dave Richards, who led a Kuwati-backed consortium to buy Aston Martin from Ford in March, and David James, who bought the rights to manufacturer Smart from DaimlerChrysler. Ford and Alchemy could not immediately be reached for comment

SDNR

Yeah you are right monster. I have never been a Jag fan but it would be sad to see it go. That RD6 concept is a very good looking car -- it makes me realize that Jaguar does have potential if the right buyer comes along. I really don't think Fiat would give it what it needs -- besides, Fiat have already got Maserati to keep them occupied. BMW would not touch it after being so burned by the Rover experience -- It would be fantastic if a company like Toyota or Honda got in on the act. I would love for BMW to buy back Land Rover ...but that is obviously wishful thinking too.

SDNR

Christ, it would be the last fatal blow to Jaguar if Renault got hold of it.