Mumbai: Senior executives from Tata Motors and its investment bankers are currently in London to start the Group''s due-diligence on Jaguar and Land Rovers, which the Tata Group is keen to acquire from Ford Motors.

In the recent past Indian media has named Mahindra & Mahindra as also been interested in making a bid to gain a foothold in the US car market. Ford and Lehman Brothers have separately valued Land Rovers and Jaguar together at $3-7 billion.

According to reports, the due diligence team, led by chartered accountant Arun Gandhi, director, Tata Sons, who looks after M&As for the group, is expected to be given access to the balance sheets of Ford and other company documents to enable the Tata Group to discuss the synergies likely to emerge from an acquisition of the two marqué brands.

Gandhi is credited with having clinched Tata Steel''s acquisition of Corus Steel Plc earlier this year. Gandhi is currently supervising the integration of Corus with Tata Steel.

Ford motor''s advisors, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and Merrill Lynch, are said to be in talks with the prospective bidders and are expected to ask for binding offers by the end of this month.

Reports have named Citigroup as Tata Group''s advisors for the acquisition, that analysts predict would attract private equity funds TPG, Carlyele and Cerebrus Capital to make a bid for.

In the recent past, Alan Mulally, CEI, Ford Motor, the company is "open to different options including retaining a minority stake in the company."