Ford Weighs Options for Land Rover, Jaguar

The company has hired bankers to look at a potential sale of the luxury brands.

Author:: Nat Worden
Publish date:: Jun 12, 2007 3:42 PM EDT

Updated from 10:35 a.m. EDT

Ford

confirmed Tuesday that it has hired financial advisers to explore options for its Land Rover and Jaguar brands, which could eventually lead to a sale of the businesses.

Ford spokesman Tom Hoyt said that while Ford is reviewing all its operations as part of its restructuring efforts, the automaker is specifically looking at the two upscale brands based in the U.K.

In March, Ford sold the luxury brand Aston Martin for $848 million. It bought Jaguar in 1989 and Land Rover in 2000. All three brands were part of its Premier Automotive Group unit.

Ford has reportedly hired

Goldman Sachs

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and

Morgan Stanley

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to explore options for the Premier Automotive division, which also includes Volvo.

Shares of Ford recently were up 4 cents, or 0.5%, to $8.44.