Tecom is Maltacom's preferred bidder

Valletta, Malta: Malta's government has chosen Dubai's Tecom as the preferred bidder for its 60 per cent stake in Maltese telecom company Maltacom, it said on Monday.

The Maltese investment ministry said Tecom's bid, at 214 million euros ($258 million, Dh949 million), was significantly higher than other bids.

As preferred bidder, Tecom will hold exclusive negotiations with Malta's government about buying the stake.

"Lehman Brothers, the government's financial advisors on this transaction, believe Tecom's bid is consistent with the current market valuation for telecom incumbents" the statement said.

Maltacom is the only fixed line telephony company in Malta and also owns a large cellphone subsidiary which shares the market with Vodafone Malta. The remainder of its shares are owned by the public. They are traded on the Malta and London stock exchanges.

It was the second piece of good news for Tecom in under a week, the company having won a bid last week for a 35 per cent stake in Tunisie Telecom.