Mumbai, Oct. 20: The spate of overseas acquisitions by the Tatas in the last six years has given the group formidable knowledge of the processes relating to foreign takeovers to embolden it to make a successful grab for Corus with a £4.3-billion offer that dwarfs the sum of £271 million paid to acquire Tetley UK in 2000, according to analysts.

International operations, including exports, now account for roughly around 30 per cent of the revenues of the Tata group. This could rise to over 50 per cent as other companies of the group eye overseas acquisitions. Unconfirmed reports say that both Tata Motors and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) could soon announce overseas acquisitions. There is also the possibility of other group companies, such as Indian Hotels, Tata Tea, Tata Chemicals, buying foreign companies.

“The Indian economy has been in a robust shape, companies are doing extremely well and they want to grow further through both the organic and the inorganic route. Even as money is not an issue, the Tata group has been so far successful with the companies that they have acquired. They have not faced any integration problems. That explains why Tata Steel acquired a company that was several times its size,” said a merchant banker.

Sources said that leading companies from the group, such as Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Indian Hotels and Tata Tea, have strong balancesheets to support acquisition, with additional ballast provided by Tata Sons, whose current investments are valued at around $50 billion.

Since 2000, the Tata group has made 28 acquisitions in India and abroad. The acquisition of Corus marks a giant leap for the group as the bid sum of £5.3 billion is more than the combined sum for other takeovers.

It was only in August when another Tata group company,Tata Tea, picked up 30 per cent in Glaceau, the US bottled water company, for $677 million, which was, so far, the largest deal by an Indian company in the private sector.

On the other hand, Tata Steel, which is acquiring Corus, established itself as one of the strongest pan-Asian steel manufacturing groups by formalising its partnership with NatSteel Asia Pte Ltd (NatSteel Asia) in February 2005. The company acquired 100 per cent in NatSteel Asia Pte Ltd, which has assets in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia and China, in a deal worth Singapore $486.4 million.