Tata Closes in on Deal to Buy Wistron iPhone Plant

The Tata group neared completion of a deal with Taiwan’s Wistron Corp to take over its 2.2 million sq ft factory located just 50 km east of Bangalore for the manufacture of iPhones. If the acquisition goes through, Tata Electronics, the Tata arm driving the deal, will take over all of the plant’s eight iPhone lines, as well as its 10,000 workers in the process of becoming the first homegrown manufacturer of Apple’s phones. The acquisition could value the iPhone manufacturing operation of Wistron, one of three Taiwanese iPhone manufacturers in India along with Foxconn and Pegatron Corp, at more than $600 million, provided the Taiwanese company meets the government’s requirements to receive the expected incentives for the current financial year.