GO sells off news portal di-ve.com to Alberta

Digital Interactive is owned by engineering solutions group Alberta and former Business Weekly editor Christopher Sultana.

Digital Interactive said the acquisition represents a significant start for the new firm, which was purposely set up to enter the digital arena and managed to acquire the entire shareholding of di-ve.com.

The company will now focus on managing the website while implementing an expansion strategy. "Over the coming weeks, Digital Interactive will be implementing a complete overhaul process for di-ve.com to improve the online presence and facilitate the customer experience and interactivity.

"In parallel, the focus will be on improving the functionality of di-ve.com to provide visitors with the latest factual news and information. The aim is to bring to our visitors the latest updates, developments and much more information without any political connotation or bias," said Digital Interactive managing director, Christopher Sultana.

A spokesman for GO said the telecommunications company was very proud of the role that www.di-ve.com had played as a leading news and lifestyle portal over the past decade.

In February 2008, the firm decided that di-ve.com would not cover the 2008 elections in a controversial decision that left its employees astounded. Di-ve.com was never Go's core business but former chairman Sonny Portelli said that the website did not have enough resources. We don't have enough resources to cover the elections. "We are not investing any more resources because our core business is not di-ve.com."

GO today said its future investment should be focused on its quad-play services and the decision was taken to sell this asset to Digital Interactive Limited. "We are sure will be able to exploit the exciting world of online journalism, ensuring the portal's future growth and presence."

Di-ve.com was established in 2000. The first online Maltese news portal was MaltaMedia.com, launched in June 1999, a few months before di-ve.com.