News: Tata Consultancy readies $ 2 b issue

(RTR 08/01/2007) Mumbai - Tata Sons plans to raise about $2 billion from a US listing of Group Company, top software services firm Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, the Hindustan Times said on Monday.

Tata Sons, the holding company of the salt-to-software group, plans to offer a part of its holding in TCS "in the near future," the newspaper said, citing highly placed sources in the market.

"The move could be aimed at building a warchest for the Tatas to outbid Brazil's Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) ... to acquire control of Corus Group Plc," the paper said.

A TCS spokesman denied any immediate plan of an American Depositary Share issue.

Tata Steel Ltd. , India's top private steel maker, is locked in a takeover battle with CSN for Corus Tata Steel has bid 500 pence a share, while CSN has bid 515 pence, valuing the target firm at 4.9 billion pounds.

Britain's Takeover Panel has set a deadline of Jan. 30 for revised offers.

TCS, in which the founders hold nearly 84 percent, listed its shares locally in August 2004. There has been frequent speculation about an ADS issue in the market and the local media, but the company has not committed to a time frame.