The dealmaker who took India global with a slew of major purchases – Times of India

MUMBAI: In 1994, just three years into his role as chairman of the Tata Group, Ratan Tata saw an opportunity to acquire Tetley, the renowned British tea company and inventor of the tea bag. This was not only his first attempt at acquiring a global brand – one much bigger than Tata Tea itself – but also the first attempt of its kind by any Indian conglomerate. But despite assembling a team and sending it to London, Tata Tea was unable to secure the necessary financing Tetley was acquired by a private equity firm.

But fate has other plans. Five years later, Tetley’s new owner put the company back on the market. This time, having learned from the failed first attempt, Tata returned with a fully funded bid of $432 million. In February 2000, Tetley finally joined the House of Tata, making it not only India’s first and largest overseas acquisition.
Tetley was just the beginning for Ratan Tata. Over the course of his chairmanship, he orchestrated more than 60 acquisitions, bringing well-known brands such as Corus, Eight O’Clock, St James Court, Daewoo, British Salt, Tyco and NatSteel into Tata’s fold. Ratan Tata acknowledged that acquisitions were the only way to get the conglomerate onto the world stage.

In 1999, Tata’s passenger car business was struggling, and Tata offered to sell it to Ford. The American carmaker declined, stating that it would be tantamount to doing the Indian group a favor if it took over the company. However, in 2008 the tables turned. Facing bankruptcy, Ford sold its iconic example Jaguar Land Rover brands to Tata Motors for $2.3 billion. Ford Chairman Bill Ford later expressed his gratitude to Tata for doing them a favor by acquiring JLR. The deal not only saved Ford from financial collapse, but also became one of Tata’s most successful foreign acquisitions, generating two-thirds of Tata Motors’ sales.
Tata had long envisioned a significant presence in aviation. In 1995, Tata Sons approached the Ministry of Home Affairs to set up a domestic airline in partnership with Singapore Airlines (SIA), but the government introduced rules banning foreign airlines from having stakes in Indian airlines. Six years later, Tata Sons made another attempt; this time in partnership with SIA to bid for Air India, an airline founded by the Tata Group in 1932 and nationalized in 1953. Unfortunately, the government has put its privatization plans on hold. However, in 2021, as Air India’s debts escalated, the government decided to sell the airline, allowing Tata Sons to successfully acquire it – a major homecoming for the brand. Although this acquisition took place after Tata’s retirement, he approved the move as Tata Sons is controlled by Tata Trusts, of which he was the chairman.

But not every acquisition went smoothly for Ratan Tata. The purchase of VSNL from the government in 2002 caused controversy when authorities objected to the use of the telecom company’s funds to support the group’s other telecom venture, Tata Teleservices. In light of this, Ratan Tata offered to return VSNL to the government and later resigned as chairman, a position he never claimed.

Tata Steel’s $13 billion takeover of Corus in 2007, the largest cross-border deal in India to date, was also criticized as an “ambitious mistake” as the British unit remains dependent on its Indian parent. Indian Hotels (Taj) suffered a setback when its attempt to acquire Orient Express Hotels failed. Despite acquiring a 10% stake in Orient Express in 2007 and making a $1.2 billion bid in 2012, the deal never materialized due to Orient Express’ reluctance to associate with an Indian brand. Taj persisted for several years in hopes of securing the takeover, but eventually gave up his pursuit.