Maltacom stake in Vodafone to be traded

Maltacom's 20 per cent stake in Vodafone would be sold once Vodafone lists the shares on the Malta Stock Exchange, Maltacom chairman Maurice Zarb Adami said yesterday.

Mr Zarb Adami said the Malta Communications Authority had informed Maltacom of Vodafone's intention to list the shares but there was as yet no time frame.

The move would bring to an end a long-running saga. Maltacom had been bound to sell the shares six months after its subsidiary, Go Mobile, started operating its rival cellular telephony service on December 1, 2000.

The stake had originally been given to Telemalta, Maltacom's predecessor. The government had set this as a prerequisite to giving Vodafone a licence to operate a cellular phone service. Vodafone started operations in Malta on July 25, 1990.

Speaking at a news conference, Mr Zarb Adami gave a detailed overview of the meetings held with Vodafone since September, 2000, which dealt with how the two sides could resolve the issue.

Vodafone has a pre-emptive right over the shares, in that the company has a right to match the price of any potential buyer. This right is an international practice in the sale of shares.

Mr Zarb Adami said Maltacom wanted to ensure that the company obtained the best possible price for the shares in the interest of the company's shareholders.

During the most recent negotiations between the two companies, they had agreed on the methodology of pricing the shares but the offer made by Vodafone was far too low, the chairman said.

Mr Zarb Adami said Maltacom looked forward to listing the shares on the stock exchange because it would ensure the company obtained the market price.