I heard that a malasian company purchased AE
you're correct. technically, AE is now a Malaysian brand. a KL-based firm, Formosa Prosonic, bought Acoustic Energy a few years back. but i think the firm wanted it to remain identified with UK. this also applies with other British brands. if i'm not mistaken, Goldring/Lenco is now controlled by a Taiwanese group. the reverse happened in the case of Rotel, a Japanese brand - that in the '80s lagged behind other Jap brands such as Sansui, Luxman, etc., but put up a plant in UK and now identified as European brand.
when we were economically better, some NAD products, including amps, were made here. also, JBL was assembled by Delta Audio (of Silverio's Delta Motor Corp.) in the '70s, when i was still a student, and Acoustic Research by a small firm located near Dapitan. unlike the Malaysians, we never bought a foreign brand, though.