There is a clear and compelling reason to have relationships with Corus. With Corus, Tata Steel is going to be a world-class operational platform as there is natural synergy in automobiles, construction and packaging. When Mittal Steel, owned by the steel magnate L N Mittal, made the hostile bid to acquire rival Arcelor, it was a clarion call for the rest of the industry players. Tata's friendly bid for the UK-based Corus may be termed as a response to that. For Tatas, who have emerged as one among the new group of "attackers", identified from emerging economies, it is another deal to push their global gambit; in fact, various Tata group firms have already made 27 acquisitions so far since 2000, when Tata Tea acquired UK-based Tetley.
The Corus acquisition deal, which is expected to close by January 2007, subject to regulatory and other approvals, is already being touted as the largest cross-border deal by any Indian firm. Keeping aside the deal size, it doesn't take far to understand why Tata Steel opted for such a big bang acquisition. This "friendly acquisition" is not only a meticulously calculated strategic step, but also a game plan in the making, to entwine an "International business Web in the Tata way". Amidst the (cross-border) deal frenzy, one thing is clear: India Inc. is not afraid to test foreign waters (read: markets). However, it is not to assume or say that it won't be before testing and much grinding that success would come. Nonetheless, s affirm that with the increasing confidence of India Inc., the country could soon emerge as the "next generation of global brands".
|
