Billionaire Syed Mokhtar’s DRB to Buy Lotus-Owner Proton

Billionaire Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary’s DRB-Hicom Bhd. agreed to buy Lotus sportscar-owner Proton Holdings Bhd. for 1.29 billion ringgit ($410 million), in Malaysia’s biggest automotive takeover since 2000.

The automobile assembler will buy 234.7 million Proton shares, a 43 percent stake, for 5.50 ringgit apiece from state-owned Khazanah Nasional Bhd., DRB-Hicom said in a statement today. The offer, which is 6.2 percent higher than the Malaysian carmaker’s last closing price, will be extended to all remaining stockholders, according to the statement.