| Tata Motors combined offering | US$750m | |
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Synopsis
Tata Motors Limited combined offering of US$375m global depositary shares and US$375m 4.00% convertible notes due 2014 |
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| Firm | Client | Role |
| Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy |
Underwriters
Citigroup, Credit Suisse and JP Morgan |
International counsel |
| Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff |
Underwriters
Citigroup, Credit Suisse and JP Morgan |
Indian counsel |
| Sullivan & Cromwell |
Issuer
Tata Motors |
International counsel |
| AZB & Partners |
Issuer
Tata Motors |
Indian counsel |
Tata Motors, the first company from India’s engineering sector to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has raised US$750m as part of a long-term financing strategy for its 2008 acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor. The shares and convertible notes were listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and the offering was well received by the market.
| “My sense is that most of the large Indian companies that were very aggressively expansionist in the last few years are more in digestion mode for the time being but I think that’s just a pause." |
“The Indian equity markets and the Asian equity markets have generally been going through a very powerful upsurge so the timing was good,” said Anthony Root, head of Asia corporate practice at Milbank, who led the deal. “Tata Motors is one of several Indian companies taking advantage of the currently buoyant Asian markets to raise capital.”
In order to attract interest from investors, Tata Motors added in a convertible component to the offering. “It was an unusual combination and very rarely done. So putting all the mechanics together in a tight timeframe was certainly a challenge for everyone,” said Root.
Milbank has developed a ‘designated underwriters’ counsel relationship’ with the Tata Group and recently worked with Tata Steel, the sixth largest steel maker in the world, as counsel to the underwriters on the company’s US$500m offering of global depositary receipts on the London Stock Exchange.
Root expects to see further activity from Tata Motors as a result of further financings and refinancings and also continued activity across the group as a whole. However, other Indian companies may be laying low for the moment. “My sense is that most of the large Indian companies that were very aggressively expansionist in the last few years are more in digestion mode for the time being but I think that’s just a pause. If you look long term there is no question in my mind that Indian companies will continue to be active abroad,” said Root.
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