Deripaska eyes Land Rover and Jaguar
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Billionaire tycoon Oleg Deripaska, the head of Russian automaker GAZ (GAZA.RTS), is interested in Ford's (F.N) premium British brands Jaguar and Land Rover, German business weekly WirtschaftsWoche reported on Saturday.
Citing a source or sources from Ford, it said that Deripaska would also be a possible bidder for Volvo should Ford decide to sell the Swedish brand.
The magazine quoted a spokeswoman for the GAZ Group as saying: "We have already announced before that we are interested in growing through mergers and acquisitions."
Another firm owned by Deripaska, Basic Element, agreed in May to invest $1.54 billion (759 million pounds) in Canadian auto parts supplier Magna (MGa.TO).
The Guardian and Russia's Izvestia had reported last August that Deripaska may buy the troubled Jaguar brand from Ford.
Ford of Europe was not immediately available for comment.
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved.
Can I have one for Christmas?
The hottest toy in the U.S. this Christmas is an interactive hamster. It does not come from one of the major toy brands or from a movie but a small, seven-year-old company from Missouri. Full Coverage
UK
US
Business Update: TUI Travel up