Malta privatizes postal company
The Maltese government said on Monday it was privatizing Maltapost, the Maltese postal company, transferring the majority shareholding to Lombard Bank Malta and floating 40 percent of the shares on the Malta Stock Exchange.
Public Investments Minister Austin Gatt said that the bank, which already has a 35 percent stake, will buy a further 25 per cent stake for 2.4 million euros. The remaining government shareholding will then be floated.
Maltapost currently enjoys a monopoly in addressed mail items of under 50 grams and is the biggest operator in the delivery of heavier postal articles. It has post offices all over Malta.
Lombard Malta is Malta’s third largest bank but accounts for only a tiny fraction of Maltese banking business with just four branch offices.
The Maltese banking sector is dominated by HSBC Malta and Bank of Valletta, but a Portuguese bank, the Banif group, recently announced plans to involve itself heavily in Maltese retail banking.
