Two of Britain's most famous car marques may fall into private equity hands when they are auctioned off by Ford.
At least three private equity firms are understood to be interested in buying Land Rover and Jaguar, which were put up for sale last month by Ford.
According to reports today, the US auto group may receive as many as six offers for the two UK luxury car makers, including bids from several private equity firms.
These are thought to include One Equity Partners, the private equity arm of JP Morgan. One of its senior executives, Jacques Nasser, is a former chief executive of Ford but was fired by the group 2001.
Cerberus, which bought US carmaker Chrysler in May, is also likely to bid, according to the Financial Times. It has snapped up a string of struggling automotive companies recently, including parts suppliers and rental firms.
Ripplewood Holdings of the US is also expected to make an offer. Other interested parties include India's Tata Motors and South Korea's Hyundai.
The prospect of private equity getting their hands on Jaguar and Land Rover is likely to alarm UK unions, which already fear job cuts and plant closures.
On Monday Unite, Britain's biggest union, asked to be closely involved in the sale process.
"The last thing that you should consider is an auction in which the highest bidder wins, irrespective of the consequences," said Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of Unite, in a letter to Lewis Booth, head of Ford Europe.
Unite wants Ford to maintain a significant stake in the companies, and insist that the current production and development operations are kept in place.
Ford is expected to whittle down the potential buyers to a shortlist of two within the next fortnight.
