Tata Motors completes Iveco acquisition to turbocharge global play

NEW DELHI: Tata Motors Ltd has completed the acquisition of Italian truckmaker Iveco Group, marking a major step in the Indian commercial vehicle giant’s expansion into global markets and new product segments. The deal comes after a 15-month process that faced delays and resistance from some minority shareholders over the offer price.

An update on the Italian stock exchange late on Monday, showed that the transaction had been completed after the tender offer for Iveco shares closed with nearly 88% of the shares tendered, paving the way for the integration of the two commercial vehicle businesses. The acquisition, first announced in July 2025, has an enterprise value of about $4.5 billion.

The increase in tendering on Monday suggested that Tata Motors had won over most shareholders who had not voted at the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on 16 October. About 12% of shareholders voted against resolutions related to the deal, while 35% did not vote. About 53% voted in favour.

Tata Sons' chairperson Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Jaguar Land Rover's chief executive P.B. Balaji, and Tata Motors' managing director Girish Wagh are among the top executives set to join Iveco’s board.

The deal—initially expected to close by June but delayed owing to regulatory approvals—brings together two commercial vehicle makers with a combined annual sales volume of more than 540,000 vehicles and revenue of over $25 billion. The combined business will have a much wider geographic footprint, with Europe accounting for about half of sales, India 35% and the Americas the remaining 15%, as per its earlier disclosures.

Tata Motors had earlier noted that the acquisition will help it gain access to geographies and segments where its commercial vehicle business has had a limited presence.

Iveco has a strong position in Europe and is the third largest commercial vehicle maker in Latin America, while Tata Motors has a more established presence in India and parts of Africa. The companies also have complementary distribution networks in markets such as West Asia, creating scope to expand each other’s reach.

The acquisition will also give Tata Motors access to products that it does not currently offer at scale. These include heavy-duty deep-mining trucks and tractor-trailers, areas where Iveco has established capabilities.

As per its plans for Iveco integration conveyed to analysts last year, cost savings will be another key focus.

Tata Motors has identified opportunities to lower product development costs by using common platforms and engineering capabilities, while sourcing more components from Eastern Europe and Asia.

Analysts tracking the company said the two businesses spend about 40% of their research and development budgets on similar projects, creating scope to eliminate duplication once the businesses are integrated.

The opportunity comes at a time when Iveco has struggled for growth. The company reported revenue of €15.3 billion in 2024, down 4% from a year earlier, with roughly three-fourths of its revenue coming from Europe, where its business contracted by about 7%.

Tata Motors management has argued that the acquisition could generate synergies greater than those achieved through its acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover in 2008. The company has also said the deal could help its commercial vehicle business become more meaningful globally.

After the announcement of the deal, Tata Motors had faced questions from investors over the strategic rationale of buying a large overseas business just as its commercial vehicle arm was being separated from the passenger vehicle business.

The company also had to contend with opposition from some Iveco shareholders during the tender process.

Activist investor Petrus Advisers argued that Tata Motors’ offer undervalued Iveco and sought a higher price. Tata eventually raised its offer to €14.40 a share from €14.10, describing the increase as a goodwill gesture to compensate shareholders for delays in completing the transaction.

Tata Motors’ management remained confident that it would secure the required acceptance level despite the resistance, saying it expected voluntary tendering to cross the 80% threshold needed for the transaction to proceed towards full control and delisting.

With the acquisition now complete, the focus shifts from securing shareholder nod to executing the integration and delivering the promised benefits.

Ayaan Kartik is a Delhi-based journalist tracking the ever-growing world of automobiles and their components. With an experience of five years ranging from short-form news at Inshorts to longform journalism at Outlook Business magazine, he has dabbled into different storytelling formats. At Mint, he tries to regularly mix story styles, from longforms to crisp news stories. He has completed his graduation from Delhi University where he developed a liking for reading and writing about the world we live in today. Apart from automobiles, Ayaan likes to read up on geopolitics which has increasingly affected various sectors of the economy. Of all the promises journalism holds, he likes the fact that it allows a person to simply explain to readers about what is happening in the world. And what better sector than automobiles, which everyone since growing up has seen and felt connected to. Whether it is China's increasing grip on automobiles to growing affection for EVs in the country, Ayaan likes to connect his love for geopolitics and data to his stories as readers become more demanding on the types of stories they want.

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