An Extraordinary General Meeting convened by GO plc this evening authorised the company's board of directors to seek bids for the company’s entire issued share capital.
The board was also authorised to disclose unpublished price sensitive information to enable prospective offerors to make, confirm, withdraw or modify any offer for the shareholding in the company.
Addressing shareholders, GO Chairman Deepak Padmanabhan, said, "In July, GO's majority shareholder, Emirates International Telecommunications (EIT), announced its intention to dispose of its 60 per cent shareholding in GO. As EIT stated in a public statement it made shortly thereafter, this disposal is in line with its global business strategy of realigning its investment portfolio to focus on real estate.
"As Chairman, it is my duty to ensure that the interests of all shareholders are safeguarded in this sale process. The first resolution at today's General Meeting gives all shareholders the opportunity, should they so wish, to sell their shares in the Company together with EIT, thus benefitting from the value of selling together with GO's majority shareholder. I believe that the Company's present position, a position which as you know has been achieved with much effort and following a focused strategy, means we are in great shape to achieve the good return we are aiming for."
That announcement in July came a few days after GO shareholders endorsed the spin-off of a subsidiary, Malta Properties Limited (MPL), into a separate, and publicly listed, entity focused on property management.
As a result, all GO shareholders will receive exactly the same number of shares in the new entity as they currently own in GO.
In August GO said that in the first six months of this year it achieved revenue of €60.7 million and an operating profit of €13.7 million, €4 million more than in the same period last year.
Reuters reported last month that GO had invited banks to pitch for the role of advising it on the full sale of the company.
The invitation was sent out to international investment banks and specialist advisory firms around the beginning of September, sources told the news agency.