Palumbo SpA, has been declared the preferred bidder for the privatisation of the Superyacht facility.

Palumbo earlier this year also bought Malta Shipyards, of which the superyacht facility used to form part.

The Finance Ministry said that two bids for the superyacht facility were found to satisfy requirements but Palumbo’s was the best offer at €14.4 million, calculated on the basis of the upfront payment and net present value of rent payable over 30 years.

The minimum upfront payment required by the Request for Proposals was €6 million and a minimum rent of €475,000 per annum increasing by 15% every 5 years.

The offer by Palumbo was of €7.5 million and a rent of €500,000 per annum going up by 15% every 5 years.

The privatisation of the superyacht facility had been relaunched after none of the bids in an initial call for offers was seen as satisfactory.

That process was cancelled amid controversy over an alleged bribery attempt.