Mumbai: Tata Motors' British luxury car unit Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc (JLR) is raising 2 billion through a five-year loan from several multinational banks as it seeks to refinance debt maturing early next year, said people familiar with the details.
The loan is likely to be priced at 155 basis points above the UK benchmark Sterling Overnight Index Average (SONIA) rate and syndicated to a broader set of lenders later this month, these people said. The SONIA rate is currently trading 3.73%, which means the loan could be priced at about 5.28%.
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"About seven banks are the main underwriters to this loan, which is the first by the company after a long time," said a person aware of the deal. "JLR is normally more active in the bond market overseas but this year due to the volatilities in the international market a bond issue looks like an expensive proposition which is why a loan was preferred."
Singapore's DBS Bank, US' Citibank, UK-based Standard Chartered, and Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp (HSBC), and Japan's Mitsubishi UFG Financial Group (MUFG) are among the core underwriters for the issue. These banks have already committed funds for the loan, the people cited above said. ET couldn't ascertain the names of all the seven underwriting lenders.
Spokespersons at all the five banks named above declined to comment.
JLR saw a sharp fall in net profit in FY26 at just 14 million from 2.5 billion a year ago as the carmaker grappled with the impact of US tariffs, weakening demand in China, and a cyberattack that disrupted production for weeks.
A decline in demand in its key market of China and the cyberattack last September dented production and profitability during the year. The automaker however scored a financial turnaround in the March quarter from a loss in the December quarter.
"This loan is already being syndicated, with more global banks likely to join later this month," said a second person aware of the details. "We could see the loan being divided between more banks with likely close to 20 banks joining the final lenders tally. The fee structure for the core underwriting banks and the rest will be difficult with the former being on a higher plane."
A JLR spokesperson declined comment. At the end of FY26, JLR had 5.4 billion of debt outstanding, comprising 1.8 billion of unsecured bonds, 2.9 billion of unsecured loans and 38 million of other debt, according to the company's annual report.
"Of the 5.4 billion of debt, £2.1 billion is denominated in Pounds Sterling, £0.7 billion in Euros, £1.6 billion in US Dollars and £0.3 billion in Chinese Renminbi, with the remaining £0.7 billion included as leases in other currencies. The maturity profile has 31% maturing within the next financial year and 46% between one and five years" the company said in its annual report.
Refinancing is part of JLR's routine financial planning. The company repaid out of cash a 500 million bond this January, in addition to 125 million of the loans guaranteed by UK Export Finance (UKEF) which will get amortised throughout the year.
