Ford to announce Jaguar sale to Tata on Wed: FT
DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) is due to announce its agreement to sell its luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover to India's Tata Motors Ltd (TAMO.BO) for about $2 billion on Wednesday, the Financial Times said on Monday.
The sale will include a pledge by Ford to contribute to the pension fund for workers at Jaguar and Land Rover and a commitment by Tata to continue buying engines from Ford, the Financial Times said in the story posted on its Web site.
A spokesman for Ford Europe was not immediately available. A Tata representative could not be immediately reached.
Sources close to the deal told Reuters last week that Ford was expected to announce the sale of the British luxury brands this week, just ahead of Ford's target of closing the deal by the end of the first quarter.
Tata is launching a $3 billion syndicated loan to fund its purchase of the Jaguar and Land Rover.
Ford, which lost $2.7 billion in 2007 and $12.6 billion in 2006, is spinning off Jaguar and Land Rover to focus on turning around its loss-making operations in North America.
Ford acquired Land Rover from German carmaker BMW in 2000. It bought Jaguar in 1989. Ford spun off Aston Martin for $925 million last March as it began to disband its stable of European luxury brands.
(Reporting by Soyoung Kim; Editing by Andre Grenon)
