BOV, Mapfre, raise their stake in Middlesea

Bank of Valletta and Mapfre Internacional have increased their shareholding in Middlesea Insurance following a rights issue made necessary by losses which the company suffered through its Italian subsidiary.

Th subsidiary contributed to a record loss of €29 million up to the third quarter of the year, completely wiping out the €6 million profit made from local operations. This meant a net loss to the group of €22 million.

The company said today that its rights issue had been fully subscribed. Bank of Valletta, Mapfre and Munich Re, its three biggest shareholders (with a total holding of 62.5%), each took up their proportionate entitlement and BOV and Mapfre subscribed for a further 12.5 million excess shares each.

Apart from the major shareholders, 1,149 shareholders took up their proportionate entitlement. A further 346 shareholders subscribed to excess shares for a total of 1.7 million shares.

Middlesea said that in view of the upfront commitment by Bank of Valletta and Mapfre, demand for excess shares was greater than the number of available shares and a scaling down had to be made.

The shareholding structure of Middlesea now sees Bank of Valletta holding 30.8% (from the previous 21.6%), Mapre is also at 30.8% (from 21%), Munich Re is at 19.9% (unchanged) and others hold 18.5% (down from 37.5%).

The company said that a further 67 million new ordinary shares of a nominal value of €0.60 are expected to be issued, allotted and admitted to listing at the Malta Stock Exchange by December 28. Trading is expected to commence on December 29.