Saturday, June 5, 2010

Proton propose sale of 40% Group Lotus stake to Dany Bahar. Former CEO gets RM5 million.

This weeks issue #809 of The Edge Malaysia
http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/

Sheds some light on the proposed sale of Lotus:  an article by M . Shanmugam and Fong Min Hun.
The article is headed:    Steering problems at Proton.
 Here is a small portion...

A source says a plan is in motion to sell 40% of Proton's stake to the recently appointed CEO of Lotus, Dany Bahar, formerly of Ferrari.
The decision to sell to Bahar, although there were higher bids for the stake , notably from a Chinese party which offered three times the Bahar's price, led to another disagreement.

Two Proton Directors recently resigned from Proton. The Lotus issue was only one of several issues reported.

On the same page in the Edge under Breaking news: Former Proton CEO settles for RM5 Million.
Tengku Djan's dad Tengku Mahaleel former CEO of Proton walked away with RM5 million in compensation from Proton.
picture borrowed from Paul Tan


In another article again the Edge; Lotus may be part-sold to management team - by Fong Min Hun

This article covers the proposed sale of a stake in Lotus and it's boardroom repercussions.It also implies that the synergy between Proton and Lotus has not produced anything of great benefit to Proton:
The final paragraph states:
Ten years is a long time to wait for a return on investment. While things may change with a new management team on board, it may be better for Proton to cut it's losses especially with an attractive offer on the table.

I have to say that my MUM proposal was something that would have ticked Protons social responsibility boxes and raised the Lotus profile in ASEAN as well bringing much needed prestige institutions to Malaysia's Iskandar region.
Niether Proton or Lotus have shown any desire to get involved. Thinking outside the box is often talked about, but seldomn acted upon.
This my proposal on Slideshare:

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