UK’s bailout talks with Tata Steel, JLR fall through: Report

The U.K. government’s bailout talks with Jaguar Land Rover and Tata Steel Ltd. recently broke off, the Financial Times reported, citing people it didn’t identify.

Talks between the U.K.’s Treasury and the companies, both owned by Mumbai-based Tata Group, came to a halt after the government concluded the Indian multinational was sufficiently financed and didn’t qualify for taxpayer support, according to the report. JLR also balked at the stringent conditions tied to any lending, including decarbonization requirements pushing electric vehicles.

The failure to reach a deal likely leaves the companies reliant on private financing to weather the economic downturn. Both businesses remain in talks with the government on other areas of potential support like tax breaks, which could extend to state loans in the case of Tata Steel, the FT said.

The Treasury told the paper it did not comment on individual firms.

Separately, the Times reported that the pay of outgoing JLR chief Ralf Speth has risen 30% on last year to 4.44 million pounds ($5.8 million). That’s at the same time as the company increased its cost-cutting target to 2.5 billion pounds and cut thousands of jobs. His total earnings for the past four years came to 18 million pounds, it said.