Bs Reporter / Mumbai August 21, 2008, 0:53 IST Tata Motors drops Rs 3,000-cr convertible preference share issue plan: To sell investments to group firms for part-financing JLR acquisition. Tata Motors has decided to scrap a plan to raise Rs 3,000 crore by issuing convertible preference shares to help part-finance the acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover. The company's board, which met today, instead decided to sell investments to group companies at the prevailing market prices over the next six to eight months. The funds released from such divestments together with those already sold during the current financial year will form part of the resources to be raised for repaying the bridge loan taken for the Jaguar-Land Rover (JLR) acquisition, the company said in a press statement today. TURNING POINT # Tata Motors had plans to raise Rs 3,000 cr by issuing convertible preference shares # The auto-maker wanted to use the money to part-finance the acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover # The company now plans to sell investments to group companies at the prevailing market prices over the next 6-8 months # The decision was taken in view of current market situation The company said the decision was taken in view of the current market situation and the change in the scrip price on May 21 this year. The purpose is to keep the increase in the share capital as low as possible, it said. When the details of the rights issue were announced, the equity dilution was estimated to be around 45 per cent. Since then, the company's stock price has declined by 38.3 per cent and the initial fund raising plans looked unsustainable. The scrapping of the convertible preference share issue means that the rights issue is now being restricted to two simultaneous but unlinked securities