Tata Motors eyes global footprint with Ford deal

By Sumeet Chatterjee and Pete Harrison

MUMBAI/LONDON (Reuters) - India's Tata Motors Ltd geared up for a bigger international presence on Wednesday with the expected announcement of its $2 billion-plus purchase of luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Co.

Shares in India's leading vehicle maker dipped on worries about how the deal would be funded and how the global marquee brands would fit into its stable of trucks, buses and passenger cars, including the $2,500 Nano, the world's cheapest car which it plans to begin selling later this year.

The deal was signed on Tuesday and Ford plans to publicly announce the sale in New York at 0800 EST (1200 GMT), sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

"We need to know what are the liabilities in this deal, what's going to be the position of Tata Motors' balance sheet," said R.K. Gupta, managing director of Taurus Mutual Fund in New Delhi.

"Let's see the fine print of the deal," he said.

A Tata Motors' spokesman said the firm would issue a press release on the deal, but declined to say when it would be issued.

The managing director of Tata Motors, Ravi Kant, is due to hold a press conference in Bangkok on Thursday, on Tata Motor's Thai business.

Tata Motors, India's top bus and truck maker, has been in talks with Ford since it was chosen as the front runner to buy Jaguar and Land Rover a few days into 2008.