Lombard Bank has bought Transend Worldwide's 35 per cent shareholding in Maltapost, paving the way for the postal company to expand its financial service products.
Welcoming the news, Maltapost chairman David Stellini said: "Whereas before we had a partner in the postal sector, we now have a strategic partner in the banking sector who will be our partner to enter that sector in the future. Our retail network is our biggest asset and we plan to exploit this".
Maltapost has over 30 branches, all of which are well located in village and town cores.
The bank said that it considered this investment to be "of strategic importance, which should result in added value to the stakeholders of both the bank and Maltapost".
The government announced in last November's budget that it would seek a new partner for the company rather than take up its option to buy back the shares.
"With regard to Maltapost, the Cabinet decided that its strategic orientation should be one of diversification in order to compensate for the increasing decline of land mail," it said.
Transend, a New Zealand company, had bought 980,000 shares in Maltapost in 2002 for Lm1.2 million. Transend was not allowed to sell its shares during the term of the contract and, when that period elapsed, the government had retained the right to buy back the shares.
The sale included a two-year management agreement but during this period one CEO was sacked and another left the post for "personal and family reasons". Soon after the agreement expired the management of the company passed back into Maltese hands.
Lombard was founded in 1969. It is privately owned and has been quoted on the Malta Stock Exchange since 1994.
The Ministry for Investment, Industry and Information Technology yesterday expressed satisfaction over the share transfer.
"The government believes that the entry of Lombard Bank in Maltapost will begin a new and exciting phase for Maltapost that will now be able to use the expertise of its new shareholders to sustain its diversification efforts aimed at strengthening its capacity to deliver on its core postal activities," it said.
The ministry said that over the past four years, Transend Worldwide had provided expertise and leadership, which guided Maltapost through its restructuring and reform. During this time, Maltapost realigned work practices, upgraded its equipment and technology and reduced its workforce from 872 in 1998 (when it took over from Posta Ltd) to 614 at present.