€167m Melita Cable deal signed

The sale of Melita Cable to GMT Communications Partners, a European private equity group, was officially concluded yesterday with a signing ceremony that sealed the €167 million deal.

Founded in 1991, Melita Cable was owned 50/50 by the Gasan Group and the Nasdaq-listed Liberty Global International. The Gasan Group has retained a minority stake of 15 per cent in the company.

Addressing the press before the signing yesterday, Melita Cable chairman Joseph Gasan defined the transfer as a milestone in the history of the company.

Mr Gasan, who is expected to retain his seat as chairman of Melita Cable for another year, looked back at the company's history saying Melita Cable now provided 100,000 households with high-quality services through an investment of more than Lm30 million to build a cable infrastructure through which it provides TV, broadband, network services and, since November 2006, a telephone system with a 20,000-strong subscription.

Thanking the management for its commitment in achieving results and expanding the company, Mr Gasan said Melita Cable was expected to grow further with GMT as its owners.

"Melita Cable is now in a stronger position to keep on improving its service portfolio, gain market share and carry out the necessary investments to become Malta's leading communications player," Mr Gasan said.

GMT partner Massimo Prelz Oltramonti said the group had decided to invest because of Melita's successful and committed management and because of the company's strong position on the local market.

In the context of the recent liberalisation of Malta's telecom services, GMT would try to place Melita Cable in a position to give more choice to customers, Mr Prelz Oltramonti said.

Backed by investors from Europe, North America and Asia, the London-based private equity, which specialises in the European communications sector, has a track record and skill set built over a series of successful funds comprising €500 million of capital. It has cable TV/telecom investments in the Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, the Czech Republic, the UK and Romania.

Mr Prelz Oltramonti said GMT would seek to reposition the company to strengthen its role in the local telecommunications sector, saying the new owners backed the existing management team led by Philip Micallef.

Mr Prelz Oltramonti insisted that the private equity group was seeing the acquisition of Melita Cable as a long-term investment.

Besides Mr Gasan, Danny Rosso will retain his seat as director on the Melita Cable board representing the Gasan Group. The other directors have been appointed by GMT.