KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 — Shares of Malaysian carmaker Proton Holdings gained 1.5 per cent to RM4.07 yesterday on market speculation that the company may be taken over.
At least three parties have been identified as interested — DRB-Hicom, the Naza auto group and Proton’s management, whose chairman Nadzmi Salleh suggested a possible buyout last week.
Nadzmi was quoted by The Star newspaper as saying he is willing to help management spin off the carmaker.
“If Proton is indeed for sale and the price is right, I see no reason why a management buyout should not be considered,” he was quoted as saying.
But industry officials say the leading contender at the moment is DRB-Hicom.
The conglomerate is controlled by tycoon Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, a billionaire who bid for Proton about five years ago.
Syed Mokhtar is close to Prime Minister Najib Razak and former premier Mahathir Mohamad, who is Proton’s adviser.
DRB-Hicom is apparently looking to buy 32 per cent of Proton. And its bid is likely to be backed by Dr Mahathir if it can rope in Volkswagen as a partner, which apparently is what Syed Mokhtar is trying to do.
If he does pull off a deal, Proton’s sale from state hands would give Kuala Lumpur greater flexibility to open up the auto sector as it would no longer have any involvement in a vehicle maker.
Indeed, some analysts suspect this as the reason the government recently postponed announcing a national automotive to spell out the blueprint for the industry.
The Volkswagen angle is real. The German carmaker said last month it was looking at building cars in Malaysia with Proton.
Malaysia lost a golden chance to exit the car industry altogether when it rejected a previous bid for Proton from the German company. Volkswagen was in talks with the government to take a stake in the carmaker but talks collapsed in 2007 after Proton’s management pleaded with the government for a last chance.
Proton posted a net loss of RM320 million for the year to March 31 this year but is expected to return to the black in the current financial year.
Even so, it continues to lose market share and has been bogged down by its seeming inability to come out with regular new models. — Business Times Singapore
No comments:
Post a Comment