In May of this year, we reported that Chinese car company Geely Holding Group Co Ltd was in talks to buy DRB-HICOM. The deal would give Geely a controlling stake in the Malaysian conglomerates two automotive businesses—Proton and British sports car maker Lotus.
After almost five months, the deal is done and Geely now owns a 51 percent share of Lotus Cars. The buy-out, which was pegged at $65 million, will also see Malaysian Etika Automotive keep the remaining 49 percent.
The Geely takeover also translates to a bit of a stir in the company’s Board of Directors. Geely Chief Financial Officer Daniel Donghui Li, for instance, is now the British company’s Chairman, while the board seats are made up of three Geely executives and two from Lotus. Jean-Marc Gales, however, remains Lotus Chief Executive Officer.
While not too many details have been disclosed about the said acquisition, industry experts predict that Geely will use the same management style it has been using with Swedish carmaker Volvo, which it bought a few years ago. This essentially means Lotus will still be free to utilize its pool of British engineers to design and build its lightweight and potent sports cars. Geely, in turn, could use any resources it sees fit from the British marque’s parts and tech bin for its own offerings.
And if Volvo’s current success is any indication, we’re guessing that Lotus will continue to build fun-to-drive offerings like the Elise, Exige, and Evora. Of course, added capital can also give the company more leeway in building some really col cars.
