Maybe they will, maybe they won't.
Ford's lack of commitment to the sale later this year of remaining Premire Automotive Group brands' Jaguar and Land Rover may be scaring off potential buyers. The Economic Times reports the four remaining potential bidders, private equity groups One Equity Partners, Ripplewood and Texas Pacific Group, as well as Indian manufacturer Tata Motors haven't completed required due diligence proceedings on the sale. The site alleges at least one of the bidders is reluctant to lay out the cash to fund the due diligence investigation without a stronger indication from Ford that it does intend to sell off the pair of British brands. It seems Ford current money problems could "undermine the brands' value."
Financial Times reported on Thursday that investment group Terra Firma, which recently acquired music label EMI, has requested documents from Ford and had begun some due diligence investigation, which would increase active bids to five.
Chrysler saviors Cerberus, yet another private equity group, withdrew its bid recently, likely the result of a plate overflowing with Chrysler. Indian manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra reportedly also abandoned its bid after Ford indicated it would only sell both brands as a single lot, as the company was only interested in Land Rover.
By most reports, Ford plans to have the deal done by the end of the year as it refocuses on its core product lineup for 2008 and beyond. There's still no word on the fate of its sole remaining prestige brand, Volvo, although study into the matter is ongoing.