Tata seeks $3 bln loans for Jaguar, Land Rover

DEAL OR NO DEAL: Tata has assigned its advisers, Citigroup and JPMorgan, to arrange financing.

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Singapore: Tata Motors is seeking about $3 billion in loans to fund its planned purchase of Ford Motor Co's Jaguar and Land Rover luxury brands, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

Tata has assigned its advisers, Citigroup and JP Morgan, to arrange the financing with a number of other international and domestic banks, the FT said, quoting people familiar with the matter.

The loan, expected to be mostly short-term bridge financing, is larger than the expected purchase price, estimated at around $2 billion. A person familiar with the deal said part of the loan could be used for working capital, the newspaper said.

Tata Motors' widely anticipated purchase of the luxury Jaguar and Land Rover marques has been delayed by more than 10 days, a spokesman for the Britain's largest manufacturing union said.

Sources close to the negotiations between Tata and Ford Motors, the American company which owns the two brands, had earlier said an announcement could be expected March 5 or March 6, the union spokesman said.

Although he could not give a reason for the postponement, statements made in Geneva by senior executives of Tata and Ford indicate there are no fundamental problems to be overcome.

Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata, Tata Motors managing director Ravi Kant and Ford vice president Lewis Booth were unusually forthcoming in talking about the deal in Geneva Tuesday. Booth said there were "no major roadblocks" in the way of a deal, and that he expected the sale

Tata, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in Geneva, denied speculation his company planned to sell Jaguar quickly after closing a deal with Ford.

"No, I don't think that's been our style. We haven't flipped companies that we've been involved in," he said.