(Feb 21): China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co and France’s PSA Group and have submitted bids to buy a stake in money-losing Malaysian automaker Proton Holdings Bhd, according to people with knowledge of the matter. A PSA spokesman said the company is “still in the negotiation process and wish to go further with Proton.” A representative for Geely declined to comment. A Proton spokesman didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment. Proton, which is controlled by Malaysian tycoon Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary’s DRB-Hicom Bhd, is struggling from accumulated debts as sales slump. Proton was set up in 1983 by Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to steer the Southeast Asian nation’s industrialization plan.

Source: The Edge Markets February 21, 2017 11:48 UTC