The latest round of rumours involving Proton was about the so-called approval given to Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary's DRB-HICOM Bhd to take over the national carmaker.
DRB-HICOM, together with several ex-Proton managers, had formally submitted a bid to buy 32 per cent of Proton a year ago, according to a business news portal.
The purported approval was not that shocking. What was more shocking was the claim that Proton's top executive, Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, was not aware that a deal to fold Proton into DRB-HICOM had been concluded.
Even more shocking was that not a single one of senior executives of government investment arm Khazanah Nasional Bhd - Proton's largest shareholder with a 42.7 per cent stake - was involved in the deal, the portal claimed further.
If the news were indeed true, it would seem that some people were wheeling a deal behind the back of Khazanah chief Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar and Proton's Syed Zainal. This suggests that Syed Mokhtar, or his trusted executives, had dealt directly with certain people at the Ministry of Finance.
But a reality check of sorts prevailed a few days after the portal made the supposed "scoop". DRB-HICOM managing director Datuk Seri Mohd Khamil Jamil denied that the group had ever submitted the formal bid last September. He, however, maintained that the group remains open to taking a stake in Proton if opportunities arise.
So does this mean the rumours were just that: rumours? Was it no different from the previous talk by various news medium claiming that a strategic alliance with a certain global player had been sealed, which ultimately helped drive Proton share prices?
Was this one way for some quarters to punt on the Proton stock and along the way, make some money? We may never be certain, although Proton appears to be one of the more popular stocks for such a speculative play.
When it comes to Proton's survival, it has been persistently stressed by many that the high-profile carmaker currently needs a strategic partner more than a new owner to help it become a competitive player.
Proton controlled some 40 per cent of the total industry sales volume in 2005 before it shrunk to under 30 per cent in 2006, the year "little brother" Perodua superceded it as the country's top selling carmaker.
After two failed attempts with Germany's Volkswagen AG and another with General Motors of the US to form a strategic alliance in recent years, it's back to the drawing board for Proton.
But we may have to wait longer than expected before a real partnership (and not a simple cooperation) can be forged between the national carmaker and a foreign carmaker. Until then, we may be served with more speculative news quoting unidentified sources about mergers and acquisitions involving Proton.
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