India’s Tata Motors Ltd. has emerged as the leading bidder in Ford Motor Co.’s $3 billion sale of Jaguar and Land Rover, which have their U.S. headquarters in Irvine.
Meetings between Tata and trade union and government officials last week have given the company the lead in the bidding, according to a story in the Sunday Times of London.
Other bidders that still are in the running are One Equity Partners of New York and Mahindra & Mahindra, an Indian auto group that is bidding with New York’s Apollo Alternative Assets, another private equity firm.
Ford is expected to pick a preferred bidder within the next three weeks, according to the Report.
The automaker is looking to sell Jaguar and Land Rover as a single unit. Other than that, it’s unclear what the sale will mean for the Irvine operations.
Jaguar and Land Rover are part of Ford’s Premier Automotive Group, which has about 500 workers in Irvine and yearly sales of about $160 billion.
In March, Ford sold a majority stake in Premier Automotive Group’s Aston Martin for $848 million.
