TATA MOTORS DENIES JLR LISTING PLANS, SHARES UP 3.2%

MUMBAI: Tata Motors Ltd, India’s largest vehicle maker, denied a news report that the company is considering an initial public offering of its UK luxury unit Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc.

“It’s untrue. We don’t have any plans of listing JLR,” said a Tata Motors spokesperson.

Late on Monday night, Bloomberg reported Tata Motors is considering an initial public offering of JLR citing people with knowledge of the matter. The report said the company has held preliminary internal discussions over the past few months about the potential listing. It is weighing London and New York as possible listing venues for Jaguar Land Rover, it said. Shares of Tata Motors rose 3.28% to ₹467.15 on the BSE, while the Sensex fell 0.04% to 31,297.53 points.

Equity analysts tracking the company said speculation about a JLR listing has been doing the rounds for many years and there’s no truth to it. The business is generating enough cash to support future growth. Moreover, it has been raising funds by issuing bonds and also has unutilised credit lines from the banks, should the need arise.

JLR, which Tata Motors acquired from Ford Motor Co in July 2008 for $2.3 billion, has been the cash-cow for Tata Sons. It accounts for more than 80% of revenue and almost all of profits for the consolidated entity.

JLR on an average, has been investing £2 billion to £3 billion in its business every year. In the year that ended in March 2017 stood at £3.4 billion, while the cash profit after tax stood at £3.22 billion. Tata Motors gross debt at in the same year was ₹78,582 crore against ₹69,303 crore a year ago.