New Lotus owner ‘open to options’ including a sale
British sports car maker Lotus could be sold after a new owner took control of its Malaysian parent company.
Struggling Proton acquired Lotus in 1996 but the British car company has failed to make a profit.�
By Graham Ruddick8:45PM GMT 18 Jan 2012Comment
Conglomerate DRB-Hicom Berhad said it is “open to options” about the future of Norfolk-based Lotus after investing in parent company Proton.
DRB-Hicom has paid $400m (�260m) for a 43pc stake in Proton. The stake was previously held by Malaysia’s state investment arm, which is scaling back its exposure to domestic private companies.
DRB-Hicom has also made an offer to acquire the remaining shares in the company and take it private.
However, managing director Mohamad Khamil Jamil said: "We have to sit down and look at all the plans and operations of Lotus before we decide whether we are selling or stick with Lotus.
“It has been there for years and has done some good things.”
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Struggling Proton acquired Lotus in 1996 but the British company has failed to make a profit. Despite attempts to revitalise the brand through hiring executives such as Dany Bahar from Ferrari, pre-tax losses in the year to March 2011 more than doubled compared to the previous year to �26.1m.
A spokesman for Lotus said it was “business as usual” at the car maker despite the doubts about its future ownership.