Ford has appointed investment bankers to investigate the prospects of selling Jaguar and Land Rover, its two luxury UK brands, three months after it sold Aston Martin.
Ford said it would neither confirm nor deny that it had appointed Goldman Sachs, HSBC and Morgan Stanley to investigate the available options, describing reports it had done so as "speculation". But industry sources said that Ford was looking to sell the UK companies, which, along with Volvo, form its Premier Automotive Group (PAG).
Land Rover and Jaguar have separate manufacturing facilities at Solihull and Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands but both make models on the same production line at Halewood on Merseyside. They also share headquarters and product engineering at Gaydon and a design and development centre at Whitley near Coventry. The ties between them suggest they may have to be sold together.
Industry sources suggest that Land Rover is the more attractive option. "There is general interest worldwide in Land Rover but less so for Jaguar," said one industry insider.
Yesterday a number of companies tipped as possible bidders denied any involvement in the sale process. Renault ruled itself out as a possible bidder and Fiat dismissed suggestions that it had been involved in talks with Ford over the UK brands. Private equity group Alchemy played down a report that it was planning a £3bn offer. Yesterday Alchemy said that its managing partner, Jon Moulton, had said that he was interested "but only at an emotional level".
Ford lost a record $12.7bn (£6.3bn) last year. PAG's losses amounted to $327m, but it made a profit in the fourth quarter of last year, another profit in the first three months of this year and Ford is aiming to ensure it makes a profit for the full year, despite the weakness of the dollar against the pound.
Last month a US private equity firm, Cerberus, agreed to pay Daimler $7.5bn for 80% of Chrysler and industry sources suggested that US private equity interests were the most likely bidders for Land Rover and Jaguar.
