The £1.15 billion takeover of Jaguar Land Rover by India’s Tata Motors has been officially confirmed.
The deal marking the handover from Ford was signed by senior executives today (Monday) at a low key ceremony at JLR’s corporate headquarters at Gaydon, in Warwickshire.
Tata chairman Ratan Tata was present at the ceremony along with Don Leclair, Ford’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Lewis Booth, Ford’s executive vice president with responsibility for Europe.
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Mr Tata said: "This is a momentous time for all of us at Tata Motors. Jaguar and Land Rover are two iconic British brands with worldwide growth prospects.
"We are looking forward to extending our full support to the Jaguar Land Rover team to realise their competitive potential."
He confirmed that the two marques would retain their "distinctive identities" and also reaffirmed his company’s commitment to JLR’s latest business plan.
"We recognise the significant improvement in the performance of the two brands and look forward to this trend continuing in the coming years.
"It is our intention to work closely to support the Jaguar Land Rover team in building the success and preeminence of the two brands," he added.
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In a statement, Tata confirmed that David Smith, whop has been acting chief executive of the two companies, would be staying on as the new CEO of the business.
Mr Smith, who has 25 years of experience with both Jaguar Land Rover and Ford, said he was pleased the deal had been finally concluded.
"We are very pleased with the association with Tata Motors. We look forward to a sustained bright future for the company and its stakeholders," he said.
The £1.15 billion deal has been concluded on a cash free, debt-free basis. The purchase consideration includes the ownership by Jaguar and Land Rover or perpetual royalty-free licences of all necessary intellectual property rights, manufacturing plants, two advanced design centres in the 海角视频, and a worldwide network of dealers.
Ford has also contributed around £300 million to the JLR pension plans.
Long term agreements have also been agreed for the supply of engines, stampings and other components to Jaguar Land Rover. Other areas of transition support from Ford include IT, accounting and access to test facilities.
The two companies will continue to cooperate in areas such as design and development sharing platforms and jointly developing hybrid technologies and powertrain engineering.
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Ford will continue to provide financing for Jaguar and Land Rover dealers and customers for a transition period.
Tata Motors also said talks were at an advanced stage with leading auto finance providers to support the Jaguar Land Rover business in the 海角视频, Europe and the US. It is expected to select financial services partners shortly.