Tata Motors’ $4.4 billion Iveco acquisition delayed

Italian commercial vehicle maker Iveco on Thursday said Tata Motors Ltd’s $4.4 billion acquisition of the company is now expected to close in the September quarter, delaying the earlier June quarter deadline.

Iveco said the timeline has been pushed back because the Mumbai-based automaker is still awaiting regulatory approvals for the acquisition, even though the Turin-based company has obtained almost all required clearances.

Mint reported on 23 April that Tata’s deal had still not received two approvals from European authorities, which were expected by the end of March 2026, threatening to delay the deal and the company’s plan to integrate the Italian firm's business and operations.

“The regulatory approvals for the proposed acquisition of Iveco Group are currently underway, with most of the clearances already received by Tata Motors. Last pending approvals are being actively pursued for the earliest closure,” read Iveco’s 7 May presentation.

An executive directly aware of the matter said approvals from the European Central Bank and European Competition Commission are still pending, which should have come by February-March.

The deal requires the European Central Bank's go-ahead because Iveco has a non-banking financial company as well.

Tata Motors did not immediately respond to Mint's emailed queries about the implications of the delay in revenue recognition for 2026-27 and integration plans.

Tata Motors shares rose 1.3% during trading hours on Thursday, compared with a 2.3% increase in the Nifty Auto Index.

Bold plans

The Mumbai-based automaker announced in July 2025 that it would acquire Iveco in a $4.4 billion deal to expand its global presence. Iveco was the commercial vehicle arm of Italian major Fiat before it was spun off into a separate firm. Both are part of the Agnelli family's business empire.

The acquisition is seen as helping Tatas build a global commercial vehicle business on a scale, with combined sales of over 540,000 units and over $25 billion in revenue. This is also Tata Motors' largest acquisition since the $2.3 billion buyout of Jaguar Land Rover in 2008. For the Tata group, the buyout is the second-largest after the $13.1 billion takeover of Corus Group by Tata Steel Ltd in 2007.

Analysts previously noted that the company would have budgeted for a delay in the deal owing to a slew of regulatory approvals required.

The announcement also comes after Iveco reported a quarterly loss of 75 million euros in 2025-26, compared with a profit of 60 million euros in the year-ago period. Net revenue grew by 1% to 2.83 billion euros. The company was hit by rework costs in the bus segment, sluggish volume growth and quality-improvement-related costs.

“Profitability is expected to improve in H2 2026 on the back of the actions implemented in H1 and the acceleration of the efficiency programme, which will bring further full-year savings in OpEx,” Olof Persson, chief executive, said in the 7-May presentation.

Analysts have also flagged concerns that Iveco’s slipping performance could affect Tata Motors' overall growth.

In a 30 January note, analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services flagged limited visibility into Iveco’s financials due to uncertainty in the markets it operates in, including Europe and Latin America.

“Its (Tata Motors) recent acquisition of Iveco would expose it to the ongoing global macro uncertainties, thereby driving a potential de-rating if the demand environment does not improve anytime soon,” analysts said in the note.