99.3 per cent of shares represented at the meeting vote in favour

GO plc (GO) shareholders have endorsed the Spin-off of a subsidiary, Malta Properties Limited (MPL), into a separate, and publicly listed, entity focused on property management. The necessary changes to GO’s Memorandum and Articles of Association and a related resolution enabling this restructuring, were approved during an Extraordinary General Meeting held this evening.

As a result of the Spin-off of MPL, all GO shareholders will receive exactly the same number of shares in the new entity as they currently own in GO. Based on a recent report carried out by Architecture Project, MPL’s property portfolio, covering 11 different sites, is valued at nearly €53 million.

MPL Chief Executive, Nikhil Patil, said, “The Spin-off of MPL will allow GO to focus on its main business of communication while MPL focuses on maximising long-term value for our shareholders from the Company’s extensive property portfolio. As the two companies will now be listed separately, shareholders are also free to either maintain their shareholding in both companies or to focus more on the company which better suits their investment objectives. The properties in our portfolio have considerable potential for redevelopment which should drive growth based on the solid foundation of also having GO as a key tenant in some of our sites.”

GO plc Chairman, Deepak Padmanabhan, said, “Two years ago, GO had made clear that it wanted to pursue a clear strategy to develop its substantial property portfolio and maximise value for shareholders. Different options were evaluated and the conclusion reached that a Spin-off would be the best approach to achieve our objectives. GO is a communications company, not a property manager or developer, and so there is a clear rationale for empowering MPL with the freedom to focus on its task of redeveloping the 11 properties currently in our portfolio, thereby generating new income streams and enhancing long-term value.”

“Seen also in the context of GO’s own, equally exciting, recent strategic investments in Fibre to the Home, 4G and wi-fi, these are interesting times indeed for our shareholders. I would therefore also like to thank them for their enduring support and for now overwhelmingly endorsing this restructuring, which required the approval of 75 per cent of the shares”, continued Mr Padmanabhan.

The expectation is that the company listing will take place before the end of 2015 and that it will continue to be led by Mr Patil. Mr Patil has been on the Board of Directors at GO plc for eight years and also sits on the Boards of BMIT, GO’s subsidiary data services provider, and Cablenet, the Cypriot communications operator in which GO also has an interest. Mr Patil is a Director – Strategy & Investments, with Emirates International Telecommunications, which has a 60 per cent shareholding in GO plc.

The new entity will have at its disposal a number of key property assets such as the Zejtun Exchange, (pictured above) where Malta’s largest state-of-the-art data centre and offices are planned. Photo shows proposed designs for this initial project.

MPL Chief Executive Nikhil Patil presenting details of the proposed spin-off to GO plc shareholders during the EGM.