GKN partner wins £300m Jaguar deal

THE US firm helping engineer gKn fight off a hostile takeover bid has won a £300m contract from Jaguar land Rover (JlR).

Car parts maker dana plans to plough around £21m into its factory in Birmingham to make the front and rear axles as part of the deal. The contract win boosts dana’s work in the UK.

dana plans to buy engineer gKn’s automotive arm for £4.4bn if gKn staves off a hostile takeover from City turnaround firm Melrose.

Shareholders have until next Thursday to decide whether to take up Melrose’s £ 8.1bn offer for the whole of gKn. If not, they will then decide whether they back dana’s offer, under which they would get shares in a car company and own 100pc of gKn, which would be an aerospace business once its powder metallurgy is sold.

Melrose secured backing yesterday from gKn pension trustees for its bid after they said they were happy with Melrose’s plan to pay £1bn into the heavily indebted pension fund if its takeover is successful.