DRB-HICOM


DRB-HICOM Berhad is one of Malaysia's leading corporations, involved in the automotive manufacturing, assembly and distribution industry through its involvement in the passenger car and four wheel drive vehicle market segment, the national truck project and the national motorcycle project. DRB-HICOM assembles cars in Malaysia for Tata Motors, Honda, Isuzu, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen, with plans for expansion. The Group also retails various brands such Audi, Mitsubishi and Volkswagen.

History

HICOM was incorporated on 11 March 1910 under The Companies Enactment 1897 as The New Serendah Rubber Company Limited. The name of the company was changed to The New Serendah Rubber Company Berhad on 15 April 1966. Subsequently, on 16 December 1993, it changed its name to HICOM Holdings Berhad pursuant to a restructuring exercise. It was incorporated in 1980 as the Heavy Industries Corporation of Malaysia Berhad.
Diversified Resources Berhad was incorporated in 1990 as Peerless Assets Sdn Bhd. It was changed to DRB in September 1991, and listed itself on Malaysia's main bourse in September the following year.
In 1996, both companies merged to form the biggest conglomerate in Malaysia. DRB-HICOM was listed on the Main Board of the KLSE on 4 September 1992 and assumed its present name on 11 May 2000.
Within the manufacturing capabilities of DRB-HICOM is CTRM Sdn Bhd, a specialist composites products manufacturer, and counts Airbus, Boeing and Lear as their aviation customers. The plant in Melaka houses 12 autoclaves, the largest number of autoclaves in a facility in ASEAN.
Besides automotive concerns, the Group's core business focuses are in the services and property & infrastructure sectors. These are conducted via several companies such as Pos Malaysia, Bank Muamalat, and PUSPAKOM. It is also the owner of two education institutions, namely DRB-HICOM University of Automotive Malaysia in Pekan, Pahang, and Akademi Saga in Shah Alam, Selangor. The latter is a vocational training centre that produces trained mechanics.
The Group also has a significant presence in the defence industry. Through DRB-HICOM Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd, it designs, develops, manufactures and supplies armoured and logistics vehicles for military and homeland security use. It supplies mainly to the Government of Malaysia.
On 8 March 2018, the Group announced a major shift in the direction of their property sector. In a cash plus land swap deal with companies owned by their majority shareholder, DRB-HICOM announced the sale of several plots of land and all its hospitality assets. This shift will see DRB-HICOM exiting the hospitality industry with the sale of Glenmarie Golf & Country Club, Holiday Inn Glenmarie KL and Vivanta by Taj at Rebak Island Marina.
Five months later, on 1 August 2018, DRB-HICOM announced the sale of their waste management company Alam Flora Sdn Bhd to Malakoff Corporation Berhad. Included in the deal valued at RM1.0b was DRB-HICOM Environmental Services Sdn Bhd, a unit of AFSB. DHES handles non-concession waste management for various industries including healthcare, sports organisations and restaurants. AFSB holds waste management concession for several areas in Peninsular Malaysia, which ends in 2033. After several extensions of time, the deal was finally completed on 5 December 2019.

On 29 September 2017, DRB-HICOM announced changes to the boards of its principal subsidiary, PROTON Holdings Berhad. Following the signing of a Definitive Agreement with China's Zejiang Geely Holding Group Limited on 23 June 2017, the Chinese carmaker acquired 49.9% equity in PROTON. The announcement on 29 September saw a new board of directors put in place in PROTON Holdings, PROTON Edar and Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Sdn Bhd.
Three nominees from Geely Holding joined the boards; Daniel Donghui Li, the Executive VP and CFO of Geely Holding; Dr Nathan Yuning, the Executive VP of International Business of Geely Holding, and Feng Qing Feng, the Group VP and CTO at HK-listed Geely Auto. DRB-HICOM is represented by Dato' Sri Syed Faisal Albar, who chairs the boards, and Amalanathan Thomas and Shaharul Farez Hassan. Both are part of the senior management team at DRB-HICOM.
Also named on the same day was Dr Li Chunrong, who joins PONSB as CEO. Dr Li is the third foreigner to head PROTON. Between 1997 and 1993, the early years of PROTON, two different Japanese nominees of their-then partners, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, helmed the carmaker.

Companies under DRB-HICOM

Wholly owned subsidiaries