Today’s Newspaper Cuttings
30 October 2015
Today’s online news timesofmalta.com GO is formally put up for sale – GO Direct
Independent.com.mt GO plc seeking buyer for share capital after announcement Emirates will sell 60% holding – GO Direct
Josannecassar.com Vodafone employees lend a helping hand – Vodafone CSR Direct GO welcomes MCA’s clarifications on European Commission broadband reports – GO Direct
Maltatoday.com.mt GO plc officially put up for sale – GO Direct
newsbook.com.mt Impjegata tal-Vodafone tingħaqad mal-“Heroes” f’Londra – Vodafone Direct 150 impjegat bi sfida li jgawdu minnha t-tfal – Vodafone CSR Direct Il-kumpanija GO gġall-bejgħ – GO Direct
maltastar.com Go welcomes MCA’s clarifications on European Commission broadband – GO Direct GO for sale – GO Direct
Inewsmalta.com Il-Bord ta’ GO awtoriżżat biex ifittex offerti għall-bejgħ tal-kumpanija – GO Direct
Tvm.com.mt Il-kumpanija GO uffiċjalment għall-bejgħ – GO Direct
Vodafone in the news
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Vodafone Direct josannecassar.com 27 October 2015 € 116
VODAFONE EMPLOYEES LEND A HELPING HAND Last week the whole Vodafone Commercial Operations Department participated in a CSR event at Dar Qalb ta’ Gesu, St. Venera. The team, of circa.150 employees, had the challenge of revamping an old area of the home into a modern comfortable space, over the span of 5 days. Around 30 employees a day carried out jobs ranging from sanding doors, to painting walls and also restoring items of furniture to a ‘vintage’ look. Employees also enjoyed cooking and eating together, as well as with Dar Qalb ta’ Gesu staff.
‘We truly enjoyed the company of every single Vodafone employee who offered their time to come and participate in this project,’ said Judith Debono, Home administrator. ‘We were all impressed at the incredible job they have done and glad we can finally put this space to better use.’ The now revamped space will serve as a multi-purpose room for events like in-house training, children’s parties, team building events and more.
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Vodafone CSR Direct newsbook.com.mt 28 October 2015 € 120
150 impjegat bi sfida li jgawdu minnha t-tfal Karl Wright - 28/10/15 04:58 PM
Il-ġimgħa l-oħra, id-dipartiment kollu tal-Operazzjonijiet Kummerċjali ta’ Vodafone ipparteċipa f’avveniment ta’ Responsabbiltà Korporattiva Soċjali f’Dar Qalb ta’ Ġesu f’Santa Venera. It-tim, magħmul minn madwar 150 impjegat, kellhom l-isfida li jirranġaw parti antika ta’ din id-dar f’ħamest ijiem biex jagħmlu spazju aktar komdu u modern. Madwar 30 impjegat kuljum għamlu xogħol differenti, fejn xkatlaw bibien, żebgħu ħitan u rranġaw ċertu għamara. Dawn għenu wkoll fit-tisjir u kielu flimkien mal-impjegati ta’ Dar Qalb ta’ Ġesu. “Verament ħadna gost bil-kumpanija tal-impjegati, li offrew il-ħin tagħhom biex jipparteċipaw f’dan il-proġett,” qalet Judith Debono, Home Administrator. Dan l-ispazju issa se jservi bħala kamra għall-avvenimenti bħal taħriġ, festini għat-tfal u avvenimenti ta’ team building u aktar.
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Vodafone Direct newsbook.com.mt 28 October 2015 € 120
Impjegata tal-Vodafone tingħaqad mal-“Heroes” f‟Londra Karl Wright - 28/10/15 02:22 PM
Daniela Abela, il-Global Hero Annwali ta‟ Vodafone Malta għall-2014/15, li hi l-Customer Experience Delivery Senior Executive fis-settur tal-Commercial Operations Group tal-kumpanija, għadha kif waslet lura minn Londra fejn attendiet għall-avveniment annwali tal-Global Hero Recognition. Ma‟ Daniela ngħaqdu 28 Vodafone Global Hero oħrajn mill-kumpanji kollha ta‟ Vodafone minn madwar id-dinja. Dan l-avveniment ikkonsista f‟VIP weekend, kollox imħallas f‟Londra, fejn il-Heroes kollha gawdew minn żjarat organizzati apposta biex jaraw il-belt, inkluża żjara privata fil-London Eye u żjara lil waħda mill-aqwa shows teatrali fil-West End. Punt ewlieni f‟Londra kienet iż-żjara li saret fl-uffiċċji tal-Vodafone f‟Paddington fejn ingħataw merħba kbira mill-istaff kollu u fejn iltaqgħu ma‟ Vittorio Colao, iċ-Chairman tal-Vodafone Group. Il-Vodafone Annual Global Heroes hu unur iddedikat għal dawk l-impjegati li jagħmlu xogħolhom bl-aqwa mod u jkunu mudelli għall-oħrajn biex jaġixxu f‟„The Vodafone Way‟.
Other stories in the news
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GO Direct independent.com.mt 29 October 2015 â‚Ź 145
GO plc seeking buyer for share capital after announcement Emirates will sell 60% holding Jacob Borg Thursday, 29 October 2015, 17:17
GO plc is seeking a buyer for its entire share capital, the company's Chairman Deepak Padmanabhan announcement during an extraordinary general meeting today. Addressing shareholders during the meeting, Mr Padmanabhan said the move comes following Emirates announcement last July that it will be disposing of its 60 per cent shareholding in GO. Mr Padmanabhan said the company wants to give all shareholders the opportunity to sell their shares together with GO's majority shareholder Emirates. The board of directors is committed to obtaining the best possible price for shareholders from prospective bidders, he said.
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GO Direct independent.com.mt 29 October 2015 â‚Ź 145
The company is in great shape to achieve good returns, and is in better financial shape than many of its industry peers in the EU, he said. Edmund Brincat - the company's Chief Financial Officer- said GO is still at the preliminary preparatory stage for the potential buyout. "The best interests of shareholders will be kept in mind, we want to get the best possible price for the company's shares." He explained to shareholders that as part of the process and under strict non-disclosure obligations, certain "non-public" information will be given to potential buyers. GO will provide all shareholders with the option to sell their shares at the best possible price, he said. Mr Brincat said the expected time-frame for concluding this process is approximately six months.
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GO Direct inewsmalta.com 29 October 2015 € 135
Il-Bord ta' GO awtorizzat biex ifittex offerti għall-bejgħ tal-kumpanija 20:35 | 29.10.2015
Waqt Laqgħa Ġenerali Straordinarja li saret illum waranofsinhar, l-azzjonisti ta' GO approvaw żewġ riżoluzzjonijiet b'iktar minn 99 fil-mija tal-voti mitfugħa. L-ewwel riżoluzzjoni tawtorizza lill-Bord tad-Diretturi tal-kumpannija biex ifittex offerti minn xerrejja ta' bona fide għall-bejgħ tal-kapital azzjonarju maħruġ kollu tal-Kumpanija, u biex fl-istess waqt jieħdu l-passi kollha neċessarji biex jiżguraw l-aħjar offerti. It-tieni riżoluzzjoni tawtorizza lill-kumpanija biex tiżvela kwalunkwe tip ta' tagħrif, inkluż informazzjoni sensittiva mhux ippubblikata dwar prezzijiet, li l-Bord tad-Diretturi jista' jikkunsidra meħtieġa bil-għan li x-xerrejja prospettivi u l-konsulenti tagħhom ikunu jistgħu jagħmlu, jikkonfermaw, jirtiraw jew jimmodifikaw kwalunkwe offerta għax-xiri tal-ishma f'din il-kumpanija. Meta kien qed jindirizza lill-azzjonisti, iċ-Chairman ta' GO, Deepak Padmanabhan (ritratt, xellug), qal: "F'Ġunju li għadda, l-azzjonist ewlieni ta' GO, Emirates International Telecommunications (EIT), ħabbar l-intenzjoni tiegħu li jbigħ is-sehem ta' 60 fil-mija li għandu f'GO. Kif tħabbar fi stqarrija pubblika, li ħarġet ftit tal-ħin wara li l-kumpanija EIT iddikjarat l-intenzjoni tagħha, il-bejgħ ta' l-ishma tagħha hu konformi mal-istrateġija globali tan-negozju tagħha li tiffoka l-portafoll tal-investiment tagħha fuq proprjetà immobbli (real estate). "Bħala Chairman, hu d-dover tiegħi li niżgura li l-interessi tal-azzjonisti kollha jkunu salvagwardjati f'dan il-proċess ta' bejgħ. L-ewwel riżoluzzjoni fil-Laqgħa Ġenerali tal-lum qed tagħti lill-azzjonisti kollha l-opportunità, u l-għażla jekk jixtiequ, li jbigħu l-ishma tagħhom fil-Kumpannija flimkien ma' EIT biex b'hekk jibbenefikaw mill-valur li jbiegħu l-ishma tagħhom flimkien mal-ikbar azzjonist ta' GO. Nemmen li l-pożizzjoni preżenti tal-umpanija, li nkisbet b'ħafna impenn u strateġija ffukata, tfisser li ninsabu f'pożizzjoni tajba biex niksbu l-qligħ li qed nimmiraw għalih."
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GO Direct josannecassar.com 29 October 2015 € 116
GO WELCOMES MCA’S CLARIFICATIONS ON EUROPEAN COMMISSION BROADBAND REPORTS Reaffirming its commitment to offer best in class communications services, at the best value, GO plc welcomes the recent clarifications published by the Malta Communications Authority [MCA] regarding the European Commission’s three reports on broadband quality, prices and coverage, and to subsequent articles about these reports in certain sections of the print media in Malta. Commission’s Report ‘Broadband Internet Access Cost’ (BIAC) 2015 GO endorses MCA’s observation that competitive conditions in Malta have actually led to a consistent decline in prices paid by Maltese consumers for broadband services. This is confirmed in the European Commission’s own Report, which includes Malta amongst countries recording a drop in prices across all bands of broadband products. Unfortunately, subsequent articles in certain sections of the media have focused on pricing of broadband products that are either no longer popular in the Maltese market, such as standalone broadband, or high value products that are still in their infancy and that will continue to decrease in price with more take-up, such as very high speed broadband. Moreover, as correctly pointed out by the MCA, the Commission’s Report does not take sufficiently into account the limitless monthly download limits that an operator like GO offers across most of its broadband services. In fact, GO’s Triple play offers, are by far the most preferred by Maltese consumers. Additionally, the Report measures prices based on the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) concept, not the actual prices being paid by Maltese consumers. Commission’s Report ‘Quality of Broadband Services in the EU’
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GO Direct josannecassar.com 29 October 2015 € 116
With regards to the Commission’s Report on the quality of broadband services in Malta, GO would like to clarify that the Commission’s Report refers exclusively to the network of one of its competitors, and not GO’s. In fact, not a single graph in the 188-page report refers to xDSL or FTTx measurements for GO. Commission’s Report ‘Broadband Coverage in Europe 2014’ As stressed by the MCA itself, also worth noting are the Commission’s other Report about Malta’s impressively high levels of broadband coverage compared with the rest of Europe. The Commission’s Report highlights the fact that ‘’in 2014, Malta was the only country to report virtually complete broadband coverage across the different technology combinations on both rural and national level.” Comparative figures further demonstrate how Malta outperforms the EU average in almost all technologies. Such coverage, even in a country as geographically compact as Malta, could only have been achieved through significant year-on-year investment by the telecom network operators in Malta and often at appreciable commercial risk. A GO spokesperson said, ‘’GO is proud to be the biggest investor in the telecoms sector in Malta, with consistently high capital expenditure in fixed line and mobile telephony, broadband and television. Committed to Malta’s future, during these last 5 years alone, GO has invested over €100 million in its networks and services, putting it in the list of top investors overall in the Maltese economy.’’ ‘’GO is still investing heavily in next generation networks: it will shortly be commercially launching the only 4G mobile service supported by a real fibre infrastructure and will continue expanding its cutting edge fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network that will have reached over 25,000 homes by the end of this year. This will deliver the highest broadband speeds and excellent dependability to the consumer. Thanks to this infrastructure, GO will ensure Malta retains its position among the very top EU Member States in terms of telecoms connectivity for the foreseeable future.’’
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GO Direct maltastar.com 29 October 2015 € 116
GO welcomes MCA’s clarifications on European Commission Broadband Thursday, 29 Oct 2015, 08:49
Telecommunitations company Go says it welcomes the clarifications made by the Malta Communications Authority regarding the European Commission report of Broadband services. GO said that higher costs involved services that were no longer popular or services that were still in their infancy. The E U report was critical of services provided but these were only in connection with a rival company said GO. The company said it was pleased to read that Malta outperformed the rest of Europe in Broadband coverage. A GO spokesperson said, ‘’GO is proud to be the biggest investor in the telecoms sector in Malta, with consistently high capital expenditure in fixed line and mobile telephony, broadband and television. Committed to Malta’s future, during these last 5 years alone, GO has invested over €100 million in its networks and services, putting it in the list of top investors overall in the Maltese economy.’’ ‘’GO is still investing heavily in next generation networks: it will shortly be commercially launching the only 4G mobile service supported by a real fibre infrastructure and will continue expanding its cutting edge fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network that will have reached over 25,000 homes by the end of this year. This will deliver the highest broadband speeds and excellent dependability to the consumer. Thanks to this infrastructure, GO will ensure Malta retains its position among the very top EU Member States in terms of telecoms connectivity for the foreseeable future.’’
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GO Direct timesofmalta.com 29 October 2015 € 230
Thursday, October 29, 2015, 19:58
GO is formally put up for sale An Extraordinary General Meeting convened by GO plc this evening authorised the company's board of directors to seek bids for the company’s entire issued share capital. The board was also authorised to disclose unpublished price sensitive information to enable prospective offerors to make, confirm, withdraw or modify any offer for the shareholding in the company.
Addressing shareholders, GO Chairman Deepak Padmanabhan, said, "In July, GO's majority shareholder, Emirates International Telecommunications (EIT), announced its intention to dispose of its 60 per cent shareholding in GO. As EIT stated in a public statement it made shortly thereafter, this disposal is in line with its global business strategy of realigning its investment portfolio to focus on real estate. "As Chairman, it is my duty to ensure that the interests of all shareholders are safeguarded in this sale process. The first resolution at today's General Meeting gives all shareholders the opportunity, should they so wish, to sell their shares in the Company together with EIT, thus benefitting from the value of selling together with GO's majority shareholder. I believe that the Company's present position, a position which as you know has been achieved with much effort and following a focused strategy, means we are in great shape to achieve the good return we are aiming for." That announcement in July came a few days after GO shareholders endorsed the spin-off of a subsidiary, Malta Properties Limited (MPL), into a separate, and publicly listed, entity focused on property management. As a result, all GO shareholders will receive exactly the same number of shares in the new entity as they currently own in GO. In August GO said that in the first six months of this year it achieved revenue of €60.7 million and an operating profit of €13.7 million, €4 million more than in the same period last year. Reuters reported last month that GO had invited banks to pitch for the role of advising it on the full sale of the company. The invitation was sent out to international investment banks and specialist advisory firms around the beginning of September, sources told the news agency.
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Go Direct tvm.com.mt 29 October 2015 € 145
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GO Direct maltastar.com 30 October 2015 â‚Ź 116
GO for sale Friday, 30 Oct 2015, 07:47
During an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held this afternoon, GO shareholders approved two resolutions with more than 99 per cent of the votes cast. The first of which authorises the Company's Board of Directors to seek bids from bona fide offerors for the Company's entire issued share capital and to take all steps necessary or expedient to seek such bids.
The second resolution, in turn, authorises the disclosure by the Company of any information, including unpublished price sensitive information, which the Board may consider appropriate to enable prospective bidders, and their advisers, to make, confirm, withdraw or modify any offer for the shareholding in this Company. Addressing shareholders, GO Chairman Deepak Padmanabhan, said, "In July, GO's majority shareholder, Emirates International Telecommunications (EIT), announced its intention to dispose of its 60 per cent shareholding in GO. As EIT stated in a public statement it made shortly thereafter, this disposal is in line with its global business strategy of realigning its investment portfolio to focus on real estate. As Chairman, it is my duty to ensure that the interests of all shareholders are safeguarded in this sale process. The first resolution at today's General Meeting gives all shareholders the opportunity, should they so wish, to sell their shares in the Company together with EIT, thus benefitting from the value of selling together with GO's majority shareholder. I believe that the Company's present position, a position which as you know has been achieved with much effort and following a focused strategy, means we are in great shape to achieve the good return we are aiming for." Photo; GO Chairman Deepak Padmanabhan
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GO Direct maltatoday.com.mt 30 October 2015 € 145
GO plc officially put up for sale GO shareholders decide to put the company's entire share capital up for sale, following Emirates International Telecommunication's decision to dispose of its majority shareholding in the company Staff Reporter 30 October 2015, 9:55am
GO chairman Deepak Padmanabhan addressing shareholders during Thursday's EGM
GO plc has officially been put for sale, following an Extraordinary General Meeting on Thursday. During the EGM, GO shareholders approved a resolution that authorises the company’s board of directors to seek bids for GO’s entire share capital. The decision comes 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. During Thursday’s EGM, shareholders also approved the company’s disclosure of all information, including unpublished price-sensitive information, so as to enable potential bidders to make, confirm, withdraw, or modify any offer for the shareholding in the company.
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GO Direct maltatoday.com.mt 30 October 2015 € 145
“It is my duty to ensure that the interests of all shareholders are safeguarded in this sale process,” GO chairman Deepak Padmanabhan told shareholders at the EGM. “The first resolution at today's General Meeting gives all shareholders the opportunity, should they so wish, to sell their shares in the Company together with EIT, thus benefitting from the value of selling together with GO's majority shareholder. I believe that the Company's present position, a position which has been achieved with much effort and following a focused strategy, means we are in great shape to achieve the good return we are aiming for."
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GO Direct newsbook.com.mt 29 October 2015 € 120
Il-kumpanija Go għall-bejgħ Yendrick Cioffi - 29/10/15 09:14 PM
Il-Bord tal-GO ġie awtorizzat biex ifittex offerti għall-bejgħ tal-kumpanija. Waqt laqgħa staordinarja, l-azzjonisti tal-GO approvaw riżolulzzjoni biex il-Bord tad-Diretturi tal-kumpanija ifittex offerti minn xerrejja ta’ bona fidegħall-bejgħ tal-kapital azzjonarju maħruġ kollu tal-kumpanija. Riżoluzzjoni oħra tawtorizza lill-kumpanija biex tiżvela kull tip ta’ tagħrif, inkluż informazzjoni sensittiva mhux ippublikati dwar prezzijiet. Dan isir jekk il-bord tad-diretturi jarahom meħtieġa biex xerrejja prospettivi jkunu jistgħu jikkonfermaw, jirtiraw jew jimmodifikaw kwalunkwe offerta għax-xiri tal-ishma f’din il-kumpanija. Intant iċ-Ċermen tal-Go Deepak Padmanabha, qal li pożizzjoni preżenti tal-kumpanija turi li tinsab f’pożizzjoni tajba li jinkiseb il-qligħ li l-kumpanija qed timira għalih.