Dubai-based Emirates International Telecommunications Ltd is planning to sell its 60 per cent stake in Go in the “short term”.
The telecommunications arm of State-owned Dubai Holdings yesterday announced the intention to sell its majority stake in the Maltese telecoms company, a move that caught stockbrokers by surprise.
The statement released on the Malta Stock Exchange by company secretary Francis Galea Salomone did not give details, but the phrase “short term” gave rise to speculation that EIT already had a buyer.
Nobody from the company was in a position to answer yesterday when asked why EIT wanted to sell its stake and whether a buyer had already been approached.
The announcement came less than 24 hours after Go held an extraordinary general meeting during which shareholders endorsed the setting up of a subsidiary company, Malta Properties Limited, that absorbed Go’s vast property assets, worth €55 million. The new company will be a separate, publicly-listed entity.
It is not clear what impact the share sale in Go will have on EIT’s shareholding in Malta Properties.
Although stockbrokers felt the writing had been on the wall for some time, they admitted they were surprised by the announcement.
Industry sources told Times of Malta that the Dubai company had been gearing up for the sale since 2013.
GO’s ‘business as usual’
A Go spokesman would only say the announcement had followed a restructuring process over the past few years, during which a number of entities operating separately were integrated and streamlined.
“EIT has announced that it intends to sell its shareholding. This has no effect on any of Go Group’s ongoing operations or the services which it provides to a wide range of personal and business clients. It is, therefore, very much a case of business as usual at the present time,” the spokesman said. He later added that further announcements would be made when required by the listing regulations.
The spokesman also allayed concerns this would impact shareholders, saying they would receive exactly the same number of shares in the new entity as they own in Go.
Industry sources ruled out the possibility of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei picking up the shares. The sources said these would not fit into the company because, although it is involved in the industry, it provided technology not services.