Proton has sold MV agusta

[alexz]

Hottest news today...

Proton has sold MV Agusta for a princely sum of *ehem* RM4.50 ...


the article here

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news_business.php?id=173015


December 27, 2005 18:42 PM http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/images/friend.gif http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/printable.php?id=173015
MV Augusta Now Belongs To Italian Company



KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 27 (Bernama) -- Proton Holdings Bhd announced Tuesday that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Proton Capital Sdn Bhd, has entered into a share purchase and investment agreement with GEVI S.p.A concerning its stake in motorcycle maker Augusta S.p.A.

The agreement involved Proton Capital selling its entire equity of 57.75 million Class A shares, representing a 57.75 percent stake in Augusta, to GEVI.

Proton said in a statement that GEVI, an Italian investment holding company, would buy the shares for a cash consideration of one euro only.

"The proposed disposal is consistent with Proton's direction of divesting non-core assets," the national car company said.

It added that GEVI would assume Augusta's restructured frozen debts amounting to 106.94 million euro and working capital requirements of 32.50 million euro.

Proton also said that the proposed disposal of the stake was arrived at on a willing buyer willing seller basis after taking into consideration Augusta's unaudited financial results for the six months ended Sept 30, 2005.

The original cost of investment in Augusta was 70 million euro.

According to Proton, the proposed disposal is not expected to have any effect on its earnings, net assets, share capital or shareholdings.

-- BERNAMA

 

[boggysv]

lol at the last line.

 

[BlackSamurai]

boggysv, same thing over here. What a funny statement make by Proton.

 

[acbc]

Well, at least they make some money... but after minus here n there, not much...

 

[alexz]

yeah after spending 70mil euro in the 1st place did proton get anything out of it? any techs, or intelectual property rights from the MV agusta empire that proton got to keep? or all the 70mil euro goes down the drain without any worth at all?


maybe all proton learnt is not to invest into something not worth saving...


deep in my heart i do wish proton had bought TVR (instead of the filthy rich russian) rather than buying the MV Agusta

 

[si|verfish]

Yeah...TVRs rock.

Back to the point. I didn't like the sound of it from the moment they announced that they wanted to buy MV Augusta. A motorcycle company? For what? They can't even build cars properly and now they want to build bikes? But, for whatever reason, the plan was clearly a very poor one (not as bad as MAS, but still pretty bad) and now they've got to lick their wounds and get rid of it. What I really want to know is, who are the people responsible for this whole MV Augusta venture and what happened to them now. Why aren't they being put to the task for this catastrophic failure? Another case of sweeping stuff under the rug?

Now the sum of 70 million Euros might sound like a lot, but somehow I've got a feeling its still not as much as the amount used to line some people's pockets. Maybe its just me.

 

[koolspyda]

its either 1 euro or MV Augusta continues to bleed proton dry with their operational cost. (i read somewhere its euro32million for operational cost???) & still have Agusta's euro106.9 million (US$126.8 million) DEBT

MV Augusta will not see the light (turn black in books) anywhere soon.

it was a BAD decision to buy in the first place. but a saving grace to sell then having it weight proton down like a bad anchor.

& who did proton sell MV Augusta to??

 

[si|verfish]

Some Italian investment company, GEVI Spa.

I want to see heads roll. Who the fuck came out with the bright plan to buy MV Augusta in the first place? Who? I can't stand this typical local mentality of, "Let's not make a big deal of this...kita orang settle diam-diam sudah...".

 

[koolspyda]

I want to see heads roll. Who the fuck came out with the bright plan to buy MV Augusta in the first place? Who? I can't stand this typical local mentality of, "Let's not make a big deal of this...kita orang settle diam-diam sudah...".

You qouted someone!!
expect the wayang "Ini hal internal. it not foreigners to pick on us. "


"I was not informed of the decision to buy MV augusta in the first place...."

"I didnt know, no one told me", " i didnt see"

sounds like we been learning for arsene wnger

 

[Cheong Mou Kei 4G9XT]

i read from yesterday newspaper proton sold MV augusta for rm1 oni

so watever price dey sell....dey sell it bcoz of heavy losses ....so v all know where da future of dis proton will be

PROTON 20 years of disapointment

 

[si|verfish]

Tun Dr. Mahathir and Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel has some explanation about the sale of MV Augusta.

Source: http://www.jeffooi.com/archives/2006/01/sale_of_mv_agus.php#more

Sale of M.V. Agusta by Proton... Big Questions

This is a joint statement from Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tengku Mahaleel Tengku Ariff to the Securities Commission, copied to Screenshots, pertaining to the sale of M.V. Agusta at One Euro by Proton.

Let me bring it to you verbatim. The two gentlemen have asked the eight-plus-one questions in plain, simple English. They deserve reciprocation in the same language.

All Malaysians deserve an explanation from the present Proton management as to what they have not told us in full when Proton's Chairman went to Press four days before the year ended. Let's have some transparency in place for the new year.

January 3, 2006

Sale of M.V. Agusta by Proton

As the people who were responsible for the purchase of Meccanica Verghera Agusta (M.V. Agusta) motorcycle manufacturer of Italy, we, Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad and Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel Tengku Ariff, think Proton owes an explanation to Proton shareholders and to the public the reason a company that was bought for Euro 70 million (RM315 million) was sold for one Euro (RM4.50).

This sale must cause Proton to lose RM315 million less RM4.50. Assuming that this relieves Proton from paying the loss incurred by M.V. Agusta over the 15 months at Euro 26.87 million (or RM131 million), it would still lose the purchase price of Euro 70 million (RM315 million) by selling off at one Euro.

There is now no possibility for Proton to turn around the company and regain its purchase price, if not make a profit. Of course Proton will now not get access to M.V. Agusta engineering technology.

Proton bought M.V. Agusta knowing full well that it has a debt of Euro 232 million, which it does not have to pay for three years. M.V. Agusta has assets in the form of two plants (in Cassinetta and Morazzone) and stocks of motorcycles.

In addition M.V. Agusta owns three brands – M.V. Agusta, Cagiva and Husqvarna. The M.V. Agusta F4 1000 Tamburini is recognised as the best sports motorcycle in the world. All these brands have high values.

M.V. Agusta’s technology in motorcycle and small engines is acknowledged by the industry as second to none.

Losing automotive companies like Rolls Royce, Bentley, Skoda, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and many others have been bought by stronger companies and have been turned around. But the prices reflect the assets and the brand. As far as we know they were not sold for one Euro.

The question is can Proton turn around M.V. Agusta? Until lately Proton has been profitable. It built its facilities in Tanjung Malim for RM1.8 billion with its own money – no borrowings and no injection of capital from the Government.

After building this facility Proton still has more than RM2 billion in cash. Proton was a profitable company and must know something about management to make profits.

The recent loss by Proton is said to be due to provisions made for M.V. Agusta loans. But in answer to questions by the Press, a Proton manager (Datuk Maruan Mohd Said, CEO Proton Edar) admitted that the discounts given by Proton have affected the profits of Proton. Unfortunately no figures are given.


But apparently a total of 54,000 cars were sold in three months with rebates and large discounts which include free registration, free insurance, free first installment payment for three months and free service. Roughly the discount per car would be around RM2,000 or more. At RM2,000 on 54,000 cars, Proton would forego RM108 million. The increase in the number sold cannot make up for the amount foregone.

These figures which reflect a failed strategy have not been given. Instead the loss is attributed to provision for debts of M.V. Agusta. When provisions are made for bad debts, it does not necessarily mean that the debts cannot be recovered. Besides how is the quantum determined? The debts of M.V. Agusta are frozen in any case and it need not be paid immediately. Has the amount provided been paid so as to reduce M.V. Agusta’s debts or is it still with Proton when M.V. Agusta was sold at one Euro?

There are in fact many questions which have to be answered regarding the sale at one Euro of an entity that was bought at Euro 70 million.

* Who offered to sell or who offered to buy at one Euro?

* Were there other bidders?

* Was there an attempt to get the buyer to pay a higher price?

* Was there an announcement that M.V. Agusta was up for sale?

* If not did Proton approach only one bidder?

* If other bidders were offered, did they reject?

* Who in fact made the decision to sell?

* Can Proton explain how selling an entity bought at Euro 70 million for one Euro would not cause Proton to lose money as is claimed?

Gevi S.p.A. is not a household name in the automotive industry. Is it a motorcycle company, confident that it can turn around M.V. Agusta, something that the sale by Proton implies that Proton has no capacity or ability to turn it around? Not having to pay Euro 70 million will be an advantage for Gevi.

These are questions that need answering. As the two people most involved in the purchase of M.V. Agusta, our credibility and honesty is at stake. We want to know the correct answers. The public too may want to know as Proton is a National project.

Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad
Tengku Mahaleel Tengku Ariff

* * *

UPDATE: Bernama has the story, January 3, 21:01hr.


Posted by jeffooi at January 3, 2006 09:00 PM

 

[phat7]

this is going to get very interesting. just reading the same comment in the star this morning. Being a taxpayer myself i would also like to know what happened? I assume proton now will continue to increase its prices to recover massive losses it continues to accumulate with nitwit's running it.

 

[ronaldlaw]

I want to know who the Mother Fxxx son/daughter decision to sell Agusta?Why sell it?DEBT for reason?Dun forget according the statement,proton got the right to repay debt in 3 year time from the date of take over...