India’s Tata Motors places bid for Saab

MUMBAI - Agence France-Presse

Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata (C) and his successor Cyrus Mistry (L) pose with a Tata Safari Storme car. Tata is now interested in buying bankrupt Saab, a paper claims.

India’s Tata Motors has placed a $350 million bid to buy bankrupt Swedish car maker Saab Automobile, a newspaper report said yesterday, citing people it said were aware of the matter.

“Tata’s global acquisition team has been in negotiations with Saab and private equity players for a prospective acquisition by its Jaguar-Land Rover unit,” the Financial Express newspaper reported, quoting an unnamed source.

Tata Motors’ spokesman declined to comment when contacted by Agence-France-Presse.

Last month, Saab officials said that at least four companies had placed preliminary bids for a buy-out -- most of them from outside Sweden.

Saab, owned by Dutch company Swedish Automobile, filed for bankruptcy in December after numerous failed deals to keep it afloat.

All of Saab’s assets would be for sale, the company has said.

Tata Motors, which also makes the world’s cheapest car, the Nano, bought British luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover from U.S. Ford Motor in 2008 for $2.3 billion as part of its plans to expand beyond Asia.
Tata Motors is likely to face competition from China’s Youngman, which has been keen to buy Saab and is reported to have made a preliminary bid of about $300 million.

Indian auto and farm equipment maker Mahindra and Mahindra is also reported to have placed a bid for Saab.