Fired CEO Bahar Files Claim Against Lotus

25.05.13

Dany Bahar, sacked as largest executive officer of unprofitable British sports-car maker Agglomeration Lotus Plc. in June, filed a claim against the company and its Malaysian mother DRB-Hicom Bhd. (DRB) for wrongful dismissal.

Bahar, 40, is seeking 6.7 million pounds ($10.6 million) from Lotus for presumed unlawful early termination of his employment, DRB said in a Kuala Lumpur precursor exchange filing yesterday. The Malaysian company’s lawyers in the U.K. were notified of the demand on Aug. 23, it said.

“Dany Bahar was dismissed after an exploration into his stewardship of Lotus,” DRB said in the filing, without being specific. “We credence in we have acted properly at all times,” it said, adding that DRB and Lotus would “spiritedly” oppose and defend the claim.

DRB, controlled by billionaire Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, is tightening its contend with over Lotus after inheriting the British company through its purchase of Malaysian hack-and-sedan maker Proton Holdings Bhd. Bahar was fired from Lotus latter a complaint from DRB about unspecified concerns over his conduct, the U.K.-based vehicle manufacturer said on June 7.

Bahar joined Hethel, U.K.-based Lotus as CEO in 2009 after being recruited from Fiat SpA’s Ferrari, where he was a elder vice president, according to Lotus’s website. Prior to that, the Istanbul-untutored executive worked at energy drink maker Red Bull GmbH and Fritz Kaiser Agglomeration, according to the website.

DRB and Lotus will file counter-claims against him, yesterday’s word said. Shares of DRB fell 0.4 percent in Kuala Lumpur as of 10:12 a.m. today. The gauge FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index was little-misrepresented.

Lotus, the maker of Elise sports cars, has struggled to compete against Porsche AG and Ferrari in Europe, and has hung on to applicability in the auto industry partly because of its decades-long savvy in designing lightweight frames.

The Lotus Elise, at 2,010 pounds (912 kilograms), is the lightest about car sold in the U.S., according to Santa Monica, California-based Edmunds.com. Tesla Motors Inc. has relied on Lotus chassis designs since 2008 for its Roadster sports car.

DRB, which in Step said it may sell Lotus if it doesn’t meet performance targets, said in May it has marked against selling the British carmaker.

DRB announced a 64 percent leave in first-quarter earnings to 32.6 million ringgit yesterday. This was due to higher accounting costs related to its Proton acquisition and continuing losses at its Lotus segment, it said in a separate exchange filing.

Source: Businessweek