Russian company says not bidding for Ford brands

Billionaire tycoon Oleg Deripaska's Russian Machines, owner of automaker GAZ, said it currently has no interest in bidding for Ford Motor Co.'s premium British brands Jaguar and Land Rover.

Citing a source or sources from Ford, German magazine WirtschaftsWoche had said on Saturday, July 28, that Deripaska is interested in those brands and would also be a possible bidder for Volvo should Ford decide to sell the Swedish brand.

"There is no interest from my company or from our subsidiary Gaz in any of these brands," a spokesman for Russian Machines, the engineering and automotive arm of Deripaska's Basic Element group, said today.

The comment came as some potential bidders that had expressed interest in the units earlier in July start several weeks of due diligence.

These include India's Tata Motors and local rival Mahindra & Mahindra, as well as buyout firms TPG and Ripplewood, said sources familiar with the matter.

Another firm owned by Deripaska, Basic Element, agreed in May to invest $1.54 billion in Canadian auto parts supplier Magna International.

Britain's The Guardian and Russia's Izvestia had reported last August that Deripaska may buy the troubled Jaguar brand from Ford.