Tata South East Asia signs an MoU with Ara Group, Germany for jointly manufacturing footwear in China
May 2, 2005

Ara Shoes AG, Germany - the 6th largest branded footwear house in the world and No. 1 shoe manufacturer in Europe - entered into a Broad Understanding with Tata South East Asia Limited, Hong Kong, to jointly manufacture up to 1.5 Million pairs of footwear per annum in China for the next five years.

Ara Shoes AG has the following brands in their Group - Ara, Lloyd, Think, Legero, A & W. Ara sells close to 14 million pairs per annum and has a turnover of US$ 780 million (Euro 600 million). This Group is one of the most successful European footwear groups and has massive expansion plans for the future.

Tata South East Asia, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata International. Leather is one of the 5 Global Business Units (GBU) of Tata International, and is India's largest exporter of leather and leather products.

Under this manufacturing arrangement Tata South East Asia, will organize the following in China for the Ara Group:

• Bring in new Ideas and concepts on a continuous basis using our design studio.
• Build a full fledged prototype development centre in China for the Ara Group, offering the complete value added service of prototype development, bulk sampling, fitting trials and production trials.
• Tata South East Asia and its partners will facilitate the smooth shift of footwear manufacturing from their plants in Portugal and other parts of Europe. The manufacturing base will be built up from the existing level of 350,000 pairs per annum to a level of 1,500,000 Pairs in the next two years (1.5 Million Pairs per annum).
• Tata International and Tata South East Asia will supply leathers to various Ara manufacturing centres worldwide.

"This arrangement is a major break through in Tata International's efforts to build the footwear business into a major business for our Leather and Leather Products GBU," said Mr Deoras.

The Arrangement was signed by Mr Zimmerer, Manging Director - Ara Shoes AG and Mr Sudhir Deoras, Managing Director - Tata International Ltd on 2nd May 2005 in Langenfeld, Germany, in the presence of Ara AG, Group Chairman, Mr Rovert Roeseller.