Go plc to select bidder for total share acquisition this month

The preferred bidder for GO’s entire share capital is expected to be selected later this month, GO plc said today.

GO plc was officially put up for sale in October after GO shareholders approved a resolution that authorises the company’s board of directors to seek bids for GO’s entire share capital.

The decision came three months after GO’s majority shareholder, Emirates International Telecommunications (EIT) announced its decision to sell its 60% shareholding in the company the short term.

In the interim statement, the directors today said several investors pursued the initiative further, signed the necessary non-disclosure agreements and received an extensive information memorandum enabling them to submit non-binding offers.

In February GO received a number of non-binding offers and after careful evaluation by GO and its advisors, bidders were then granted access to the data room. “Following this, a number of binding offers have been received and these are being evaluated with a view to selecting the preferred bidder later this month,” the directors said.

During the last quarter of 2015, GO completed the spin-off of its property arm, Malta Properties Company plc (MPC). This is now a separately listed entity on the Malta Stock Exchange, releasing value previously locked within the telecoms business to shareholders. In January 2016, GO increased its shareholding in the Cyprus-based Cablenet Communication Systems Limited (Cablenet) to 51% and also acquired 51% of Kinetix IT Solutions Limited (Kinetix) a Maltese ICT services provider.

The first quarter of 2016 therefore, whilst excluding any property related activities, benefits from the inclusion of both Cablenet and Kinetix business.

GO has recently announced the financial results for the year ended 31st December 2015, with a significantly improved performance over the previous year. The Board of Directors notes that, despite a challenging competitive environment, GO’s telecommunications business continued to achieve growth in revenue and maintain healthy levels of profitability during this first quarter of 2016.

Furthermore, on a Group consolidated basis, the new revenue streams arising from the recent acquisitions contribute to increased levels of revenue and EBITDA.

GO embarked upon a major investment program to deploy fibre to the home (FTTH) and to launch 4G. GO’s fibre technology is now available to over 30,000 households. GO launched 4G services last December and has now reached the last phase of deployment. GO’s 4G network, which is the only network in Malta’s that is 100% fibre connected, will be completed before summer, allowing mobile clients to enjoy the best quality mobile network in the market.

“Thanks to such investments and to ongoing efforts to improve customer experience, GO continues to grow its overall customer connections. Initiatives aimed at selling more bundled services, upsell clients to higher broadband speeds and IPTV and to migrate mobile prepaid clients to post-pay are all leading to growth in average revenue per user (ARPU) and revenue from retail services.

“It is also encouraging to note that, in spite of a highly competitive environment and international trends of fixed to mobile substitution, GO managed to stabilize its revenues from traditional fixed voice services.”

GO has been an investor in Cablenet since 2014 and this company has been performing well; during this first quarter Cablenet continued to achieve growth in both revenue and profitability, largely as a result of continued growth in its customer base.

“The healthy financial results being achieved validate the Group’s strategies and the Board is confident that GO can retain its position as the leading provider of telecommunication services in Malta whilst it extends its reach internationally in Cyprus,” the directors said.