Even as it develops new products, like the 3-Eleven, Lotus appears to be ripe to be sold, perhaps to Geely.
Poor Lotus. It almost seems like no one wants to keep the legendary British sports car maker. The company has been in and out of trouble for at least the past five years and new reports suggest it may be on the block again.
Published reports suggest that current owner, DRB-Hicom, is considering selling the company to Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd.
DRB-Hicom owns Proton Holdings, the Malaysian automaker, which is part of the firm’s automotive holdings, all of which – including Lotus – are being shopped as a bloc.
However, in negotiations, Geely expressed more interest in acquiring just Lotus rather than the whole of Proton. Geely already owns Volvo, which it bought for $1.8 billion in 2010.
(Lotus amping up the sports car game with new 3-Eleven. Click Here for the story.)
“Proton is of no use to Geely. It wants Proton because of the auto technology in Lotus. And for PSA, which is strong in sport-utility vehicles (SUVs), it is not keen on Lotus,” according to a source quoted by The Star, Malaysia’s English-language newspaper.
China-owned Geely already owns Volvo and could add more technology and engineering capabilities through an acquisition of Lotus.
Acquiring Lotus would help China-based Geely satisfy that government, which has been pushing for companies to acquire technology lacking there now. It’s a win-win really as Lotus gets a capital infusion, which it always seems to need, and gains access to technology and engineering expertise it currently does not have.
DRB-Hicom solicited bids for companies wanted to buy in to be Proton’s strategic partner. The bidding window closed two days ago with only PSA and Geely have submitted their proposals, according to press reports.
PSA is also in the midst of negotiations with General Motors to buy the U.S. automaker’s Opel division. The move has generated much concern across the European continent with Peugeot’s parent company as well as GM meeting with German and British lawmakers and union officials to assuage concerns about job losses.
(Click Here for details about Lotus and its new approach to growth: practicality.)
That deal, if it closes, is expected to cost PSA upwards of $2 billion, although neither side has floated a number for public consumption.
DRB-Hicom started looking for a partner to take a controlling stake in Proton after the Malaysian government, which at one point owned the company, gave the automaker a RM1.5 billion, nearly $336.5 million, in financial assistance to pay off the vendors of the troubled national car manufacturer.
One of the conditions of the deal was that Proton, wholly owned by DRB-Hicom, needed to secure a foreign strategic partner as soon as possible. While finding that partner is DRB-Hicom’s priority, splitting Lotus from the equation may facilitate a deal.
(Lotus readying a new model. For more, Click Here.)
The once-proud British maker has gone through tremendous turmoil in recent years. Former CEO Dany Behar promised to roll-out a fleet of new models before being suspended in 2012, kicking off a series of legal issues and corporate turmoil that had many wondering whether Lotus would even survive. It updated the Evora and is now struggling to show that there’s life left in the company.