“The company further confirms that it has not received any notice of a buyout offer,” the conglomerate said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.

This was in response to a report by Bloomberg, quoting unnamed sources, that Syed Mokhtar was in talks with potential advisers on options that could involve a buyout of the firm.

DRB-Hicom said that if there is any development in the matter, it will make the appropriate announcement to Bursa Malaysia in accordance with listing requirements.

Syed Mokhtar owns a 55.9% stake in the listed company through his private vehicle Etika Strategi Sdn Bhd.

The Bloomberg report quoted the sources as saying deliberations are at “an early stage and no final decision has been made”.

Should Syed Mokhtar decide to buy out DRB, it would be the second of the businessman’s companies to recently delist from the local bourse.

MMC Corp, a company involved in ports and logistics, power generation and engineering and construction, was taken private in 2021.

DRB-Hicom bought a controlling stake in domestic automaker Proton Holdings Bhd in 2012 from state-owned Khazanah Nasional Bhd.

It sold 49.9% of the firm in 2017 to China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co, a deal that also gave Geely a majority interest in iconic British sports car brand Lotus Cars.

As a top defense contractor in the country, DRB-Hicom is also involved with the development, assembly and distribution of military vehicles for the Malaysian Armed Forces.

Its other interests include Bank Muamalat, a full-fledged Islamic lender, national postal service provider Pos Malaysia as well as investments in real estate.

DRB-Hicom’s share price edged up 2 sen to RM1.56 at the close of trading, giving it a market capitalisation of RM3.02 billion.