Version 1: Tata Motors now controls Iveco: what an Indian truck maker gets in Europe

Tata Motors paid about €3.43 billion for 89.42% of the Italian truck and bus maker, and the last owners can sell from 2 November.

Picture a truck rolling down a European road with the IVECO badge on its nose. From this weekend, the company behind that badge is controlled from India. On Friday, 30 October 2026, Tata Motors said it now owns 89.42% of Iveco Group, the European truck and bus maker, after paying for the shares that owners handed over in its offer.

That is roughly nine out of every ten Iveco shares. The rest are still being bought, and a fresh window for them opens on Monday, 2 November.

Wait, which Tata Motors is this?

The Tata Motors in this story is Tata's truck and bus company. The Economic Times notes the company was earlier called TML Commercial Vehicles. "Commercial vehicles" simply means vehicles that earn money: trucks that carry goods, buses that carry people, vans that deliver parcels.

How big is Iveco?

Iveco is not a small workshop. It is a giant with more than 50 years of history. Wikipedia says the Iveco name first appeared in 1975, when Italian, French and German truck brands joined together. Its home base is Turin in Italy, while the holding company is registered in Amsterdam and its shares trade in Milan.

Here is the size, as listed by Business Standard and The Economic Times:

About 33,000 people work there.
It runs 16 factories and 22 research centres, where new trucks and engines are designed.
It earned revenue of €13.43 billion in 2025, which ET puts at about Rs 1.42 lakh crore.
Its brands include IVECO trucks, IVECO BUS and HEULIEZ buses, the engine maker FPT, and IVECO CAPITAL, which lends money to people who buy its trucks.

Its plants are in Europe, China, Australia and Latin America, with about 5,000 sales and service points in over 160 countries, according to Wikipedia.

How does a takeover offer work?

Think of a big samosa stall owned by thousands of people. Each owner holds a small slice, called a share. If you want to run the stall, you cannot just walk in. You announce one price per slice and ask every owner: will you sell me yours? This open request is called a tender offer, and owners who agree "tender" their shares.

Tata Motors first offered €14.10 per share. On 9 October it added €0.30, taking the price to €14.40. Tata called it a goodwill gesture for a four-month delay in getting government approvals, and said €14.40 was its best and final price. Some smaller owners had wanted up to €18. Business Standard reports that one investor group, Petrus Advisers, had argued the offer undervalued Iveco.

Tata's offer price for each Iveco share rose from 14.10 euros to 14.40 euros — Tata raised its offer by 30 euro cents per share on 9 October.

Iveco's biggest owner, Exor, had already promised to sell its roughly 27% slice, Autocar Professional reported when the offer opened. The offer window ran from 7 September to 26 October.

Four steps of the Iveco takeover offer, from the price announcement to the reopened window — The takeover in four simple steps.

What did Tata pay?

Owners handed over 238.16 million shares. At €14.40 each, that comes to about €3.43 billion, a figure Moneylife takes from the filing. At the rate ET used, Rs 106.1 to a euro, that is about Rs 36,400 crore. All of it is cash, not shares. To pay, Tata lined up a short-term loan, called a bridge loan, from Morgan Stanley and MUFG Bank, says Autocar Professional. A bridge loan is like borrowing money off a friend for a few months until your own money arrives.

When the offer opened, the whole deal was valued at about €3.82 billion. Moneylife calls it the biggest overseas move by Tata Motors since it bought Jaguar Land Rover in 2008, in a deal with Ford.

Counter rising to 3.43 billion euros, the value of Iveco shares Tata Motors has bought so far — What Tata paid for its first 89.42% of Iveco.

What happens to the last 10%?

Around 10.58% of Iveco is still with other owners, says Business Standard. They get a second chance to sell at the same €14.40, from 2 to 6 November. Those shares will be paid for on 13 November.

Tata wants all of Iveco and plans to take it off the Milan stock market. Autocar Professional explains the rule: with 95% or more, Dutch law lets a buyer force the last owners to sell, which is called a squeeze-out. Between 80% and 95%, Tata plans a different legal route, splitting off the business and closing the old shell company, which needs owners' approval. Tata will announce the next steps in due course, ET reports.

Who runs Iveco now?

Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran has become the chairperson of Iveco's board. Two senior Tata Motors leaders, finance head P B Balaji and Girish Wagh, who leads Tata Motors, have joined the board too. Olof Persson stays as Iveco's chief, Autocar Professional reports. So the day-to-day boss does not change, but Tata now sits at the top table.

Iveco has also moved its July to September results to 3 November from 5 November. Tata Motors will start adding Iveco's numbers to its own accounts from the October to December quarter, Autocar Professional said earlier.

Why does an Indian truck maker want a European one?

Business Standard says the deal joins Tata's presence in India and other emerging markets with Iveco's long-running operations in Europe. Tata says the two have "highly complementary" products and almost no overlap in where they make and sell vehicles. In cricket terms, it is like a team with great spinners signing a side full of fast bowlers: each fills a gap in the other.

Together, the two companies would sell more than 590,000 vehicles a year and bring in about €21 billion in revenue, Autocar Professional reported when the offer launched.

What could change for people?

Truck and bus buyers: one group now sells Tata trucks and buses in India alongside IVECO trucks, buses, FPT engines and IVECO CAPITAL truck loans abroad.
Workers: about 33,000 people in Iveco's factories, research centres and offices now work for a company controlled from India.
Tata Motors itself: Iveco's yearly revenue, about Rs 1.42 lakh crore in 2025, joins its accounts, and it lined up a big bridge loan to pay for the deal.

This Firstpost video explains how the deal crossed its key hurdle:

Watch on YouTube

The next dates to watch are 2 to 6 November, when the last owners can sell, and 3 November, when Iveco reports its first results since Tata took charge.

As it was first published

Tata Motors now controls Iveco: what an Indian truck maker gets in Europe