Maltacom tender attracts five

Bidding for the sale of the Maltese government’s 60% share of Maltacom comes to a close today, with five companies likely to submit their offers. According to local newspaper Business Today, the five bidders to have shown an interest are Dubai Telecom, Oger Telecom, Telecom Slovenia, Icelandic investment company Equity House Novator and UK based Cable & Wireless. The government is now expected to evaluate the bids and commence negotiations with two or three players. Of the five companies, Cable and Wireless is deemed the strongest candidate for the stake. Unnamed government sources are quoted by the paper as saying that the sale could raise around MTL100 million (EUR232 million).