Melita’s Board of Directors announced that an agreement has been reached between Melita’s current shareholders (GMT Communications Partners, MC Venture Partners, Blackrock Communications and the Gasan Group) and international investors Apax Partners (France) and Fortino Capital (Belgium) for the acquisition of the company. The closing of the agreement is subject to regulatory approval by the competent authorities.
Joseph Gasan, Chairman of Melita said “I am delighted that Melita, which I founded 23 years ago, is now in a position, after a period of growth and transformation, to start a new phase under new ownership”.
The company’s management team has welcomed the deal and described it as recognition of Melita’s consistent growth throughout the past years, based on a clear strategy of delivering customer value through convergence.
“This transaction further highlights that Melita is recognised as one of the more advanced telecommunications players in Europe with converged fixed cable and mobile networks and services. With the support of these new shareholders, Melita will be able to continue its investment programme and growth benefiting consumers, businesses and the country as a whole”, commented Andrei Torriani, CEO at Melita.
“As the company continues to grow, invest and roll-out new offerings, we expect Melita to continue being a strong employer in Malta,” added Mr Torriani.
Apax Partners and Fortino Capital together bring more than 30 years of experience in the Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT) sector. Through their investments and professional participation the new investors bring experience from companies such as Numericable Belgium & Luxembourg, Cabovisao, Outremer Telecom, Telenet, Primacom and KPN.
Over recent years Melita completed key infrastructure investments that have been recognised by the European Commission and enabled Malta to place at the top of the European charts for next generation broadband coverage. These investments include nationwide 3G mobile network, laying of a submarine cable connecting Malta to mainland Europe, nationwide deployment of next generation broadband with speeds up to 250Mbps, construction of a state-of-the-art data centre for co-location and hosting services, as well as the roll-out of melita WIFI - the next-generation Wi-Fi service providing seamless superfast connectivity across Malta and Gozo. Melita also continues to invest in dedicated Fibre connectivity to businesses across all Malta and Gozo.