Tata after Brexit: To leave or to stay in Britain

The June 23 referendum that saw Britain leave the European Union (Brexit), has also left the Indian conglomerate Tatas with increased uncertainties, said the Nikkei Asian Review.

With 19 companies in the UK and businesses ranging from tea, hotels, motels, motors, software, steel and others, the Tatas now seem to be in a fix from exiting any of it, said the review.

In March, the Tatas had threatened to exit its ailing steel business in the UK if the government did not intervene to negotiate sale of business and help revive stressed plants. The much awaited last week of June, expected to crystalise talks with government, however was awash with Brexit referendum.

As steel venture continues to clock losses amounting to $1.33 million a day, the Brexit verdict now stands to threaten Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) Automobile a 1 billion pound loss a year. JLR, another money-spinning Tata concern, is expected to take a hit from its export to other European nations.

Tatas bonhomie with the British government, which runs back to the colonial days, may stand to gain with Brexit.

Despite this, Nikkei noted that, the exit from the steel business or scaling down any other may not come easily as both UK-based steel and JLR collectively contribute nearly 30 percent to the total sales of Tata Group.

This apart, the review emphasized that Tatas bonhomie with the British government, which run back to the colonial days, may stand to gain with Brexit. Like the British helped bootstrap many Tata companies in their nascent days, it might as well help again, it added.

As UK strengthens its bonds with the commonwealth and many erstwhile colonies, beyond the boundaries set by European Union, the Tatas might again benefit.