Major overseas acquisitions by Tata group!

New Delhi: With the takeover of two British automobile marquees Jaguar and Land Rover, the $28.8 billion Tata group, with 98 companies in its fold, will add another prominent entry to its growing roster of global acquisitions.

Barely a year ago, it paid over $12 billion to acquire Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus, in what remains the largest buy-out deal overseas by an Indian company till date.

And going by what senior executives of Tata Sons - the holding arm of the group that has 27 listed companies - maintain, the appetite for such mega mergers and acquisitions is only growing with each deal.

Tata Steel has made three major acquisitions worth some $13 billion in the past few years.

"A journey that began long ago is gathering pace," said chairman Ratan Tata on the overseas foray of the group that has interests in consumer goods, chemicals, energy, services, engineering, materials and IT systems and communications.

"From IT and tea to automobiles and steel, Tata companies are spreading their wings to find a place in the global sun," he says.

Here's a look at some notable acquisitions by the Tata group companies overseas in the past few years:

Tata Motors :

South Korea's Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Co was acquired by the company in March 2004 for $102 million and gained, in the process, a market share of 30 percent and access to markets where it had no prior presence.

This was followed by the acquisition of a 21 percent stake in Spanish bus maker Hispano Carrocera for $18 million with an option to pick up the remaining stake at a later date. This helped the company get technology to make top-end busses.

Another company in the fold - Tata Technologies, which provides automotive engineering and design services - bought Britain's Incat International for $53 million.

Tata Steel:

The company, which celebrated its centenary in August last year, wants to boost its annual output of 8.7 million tonnes to 15 million tonnes by 2010, and take it upwards to 30 million tonnes by 2030. More stunning moves on the mergers and acquisition front can definitely be expected, it says.

In January 2007, the group pulled off India's biggest ever takeover of an overseas company to buy Anglo-Dutch steel-maker Corus in a $12 billion deal that made it the combined entity the world's fifth largest producer of the commodity.

This came just over a year after it acquired Singapore's NatSteel, which also has a presence in Thailand, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Australia followed by the acquisition of Thailand's Millennium Steel for a $421 million.

Tata Consultancy Services:

This company, which was earlier a division of Tata Sons, has been among the most aggressive shoppers for companies overseas. It has acquired six companies in recent months, though the net value of the deals is not more than $100 million.

In the second half of 2005, following the merger of group company Tata Infotech into its fold, TCS acquired financial services company FNS of Australia for $26 million and then Chile's outsourcing major Comicrom for $23 million.

TCS, which has 160 offices in 30 countries, also entered into a structured deal with the British insurance major, the Pearl Group, which essentially called for the two entities to set up a subsidiary with TCS as the majority partner.

Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd:

The Tata group acquired the former state-run, international telecom carrier a few years ago. The company has made several overseas acquisitions since then with the aim of becoming a top-end services provider in the industry.

Some of the acquisitions include undersea cable company Tyco of the US for $130 million, Internet service provider Dishnet's India division for $64.28 million and international telecom service provider Teleglobe of US for $239 million.