Ford ex-chief teams up with Ripplewood to bid for Jaguar, Land Rover

Our Corporate Bureau
10 August 2007

Mumbai: Another former head of Ford Motor Company has entered the bidding war for Jaguar and Land Rover amidst speculation that the Tatas have emerged as the front-runners for acquiring the US carmaker's two premium UK brands.

Sir Nick Scheele, Ford's president and chief operating officer from 2001 to 2005, has joined forces with Ripplewood Holdings for conducting due diligence on the brands, reports quoting sources close to the developments said.

The decision pits him against Jac Nasser, Ford's chief executive from 1999 to 2001, who leads a separate bid by buy-out group, One Equity.

Jaguar and Land Rover are now expected to cost between $2 billion and $3 billion, although Merrill Lynch had earlier evaluated them at around $1.5 billion.

But the deal is still far from being clinched and sources say the initial bids submitted late last week are purely "indicative" and the actual process has only begun.