Adrenaline pumping buyouts such as JLR are increasingly becoming a habit with Mr Ratan Tata, 70, who last year essayed the largest overseas takeover by an Indian company — Tata Steel’s acquisition of Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus for $12.1 billion. “We did everything in small increments so we always lagged behind,” Mr Ratan Tata, a commercial pilot licence holder who flew a Lockheed Martin F-16 last year, said in a comment posted on the Tata Group’s website earlier.
The Corus buy was special for Tata as it happened in the centenary year of Tata Steel and now the acquisition of JLR will help firmly establish Tatas in the global corporate map as a name to reckon with.
Growing reputation
Since taking the reins of Tata business empire in 1991, Mr Ratan Tata has only steeled the group’s reputation of integrity, goodwill and competence.
“I have always believed that if you want to become a global company, you have to dismiss your notion of being a single nationality,” Mr Tata had said.
Although steel czar Lakshmi Mittal is widely regarded as the man on acquisition prowl, his business continues to be limited to the alloy and it is Mr Ratan Tata who has emerged as a true takeover tycoon —snapping up a steel company much larger than what he owns, dipping into Tetley and acquiring chemical businesses worth a billion dollar.
To the Indian polity, Mr Ratan Tata, who is heading the Investment Commission, is an apolitical policymaker, while to corporate India, he is a great visionary and for the group, he is an outstanding entrepreneur.
The last five years have seen Tatas emerging as India’s biggest buyer of global entities, adding one company after another to the kitty, which otherwise is also on a major expansion drive with plans for investment of over Rs 180,000 crore in next 5-7 years. While Corus takeover was a fitting tribute to the legacy of Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, who in late 1800s founded the empire, the JLR deal is a shining example of Mr Ratan Tata’s business acumen. Under him, the group has seen significant expansion of auto and chemicals business and foray into telecom.
