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Not obsessed with acquisitions: Ratan Tata

‘Group’s growth is more domestic oriented’

Group is investing more in India
Corus name change in due course

— PHOTO: PAUL NORONHA

DOMESTIC FOCUS: (from left) Lord Digby Jones, U.K. Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Dickie Stagg, British High Commissioner to India, and Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Group, at a conference in Mumbai on Thursday.

MUMBAI: Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata on Thursday said the group, which had been on an overseas takeover spree in the recent past including the landmark 6.2 billion pound buyout of Corus, was ‘not obsessed’ with acquisitions.

The group, also in the race for acquiring two European auto marques Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford, is investing more in India than overseas, according to the industry doyen.

“We are not obsessed with acquisition,” Mr. Tata said at a panel discussion here.

He asserted that the group’s growth was more domestic oriented despite its overseas revenues expected to outgrow that from home following acquisition of Corus.

“We are investing more in India than overseas. Our growth is more domestic oriented,” he said.

Earlier this year, Tata Steel had acquired Anglo-Dutch Corus for 6.2 billion pounds, while another group company Tata Power acquired 30 per cent stake each in two Indonesian coal producers, aggregating $1.1 billion.

Thanks to its overseas acquisitions, the group’s international revenue is expected to almost double its contribution to the overall top-line.

“We expect 60 per cent of our revenues coming from international operations largely because of Corus acquisition,” Tata Sons Executive Director Alan Rosling said.

Last financial year, the company’s revenues from international operations touched 37 per cent at $6.7 billion, of which 31 per cent came from the U.S. alone.

Asked about the ‘Tata’ brand being added to Corus, Mr. Tata said: “The name change would be done in course of time.”

Tata Motors is believed to have appointed advisors to evaluate a bid for Jaguar and Land Rover and also signed a confidentiality agreement with Ford for access to the financials of the luxury brands. The Tata group is also looking at acquiring iron ore assets overseas.

Mr. Tata had earlier in Amsterdam said ore acquisitions are part of a larger strategy to make both Corus and Tata Steel sustainable in terms of raw materials.

“Because of the size and scale of the Corus deal, we seem to be cast as a group on an acquisition spree, which is not the case. We would be interested in an acquisition only if there is a product gap that it can fill, there is a strategic fit, or a particular geographical presence that it offers,” Mr. Tata said. — PTI

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