Monaco Telecom to buy Vodafone Malta for €250m

Vodafone Group Plc is selling 100% of Vodafone Malta to Monaco Telecom SAM for a cash consideration equivalent to an Enterprise Value of €250m, according to an announcement by the group.

After the completion of the deal, Vodafone Malta will operate under the Vodafone brand for a transitional period, the note says, without specifying the length of the period or how the brand name might change.

Local market watchdog Malta Communications Authority has to give a regulatory green light for the deal to take place, which is expected to happen in Q1 2020.

For the financial year ended 31 March 2019, Vodafone Malta generated €82m of revenue, €32m of EBITDA and €19m of OpFCF, according to the Vodafone press statement.

Akira Partners LLP is acting as exclusive financial advisor to Vodafone and Norton Rose Fulbright LLP is acting as legal counsel, the press statement adds.

Monaco Telecom has operated for more than 15 years and counts more than six million users in more than ten countries, according to the official web page of the service provider. Monaco Telecom is the incumbent telecoms operator in the Principality of Monaco.

The shareholders of Monaco Telecom are the Principality of Monaco and NJJ Telecoms. NJJ Telecoms has interests in telecoms operators in Europe in Cyprus, Ireland, Monaco and Switzerland, the Vodafone press statement adds.

This is the second big communications deal Malta has seen this year: EQT Infrastructure signed an agreement to acquire Maltese telco Melita Ltd in May from Apax Partners and Fortino Capital.