NZ Post (Transend) Malta Venture Approved

The joint venture of New Zealand Post subsidiary Transend and Maltapost was discussed during talks between Malta’s Edward Fenech-Adami and Helen Clark in Wellington. After the meeting, Dr Fenech-Adami said Maltapost was looking for a strategic partner to expand beyond the shores of the Mediterranean island. We think New Zealand Post does offer us the necessary expertise to be able to do that.’ New Zealand Post paid $6.5 million for 35 per cent of Maltapost in February. The remaining 65 per cent is owned by the Maltese government. ‘We are banking on the fact that Malta is in a strategic geographic position in the centre of the Mediterranean, and so we hope that Maltapost will develop into a staging post for other operations . . . which could be very useful both to Malta and to Transend,’ Dr Fenech-Adami said. It was too early to tell if the joint venture was delivering results nearly six months into a two-year management contract to turn Maltapost around, he said. New Zealand Post’s spending on this and other foreign ventures has come under fire from Opposition MPs. Maltapost has also come attack at home for job losses and other restructuring costs. Recently, several senior staff associated with the joint venture were replaced after reports of tension between the two companies. ‘We are having some teething problems . . . but things are working,’ Dr Fenech-Adami said. New Zealand Post chief executive Elmar Toime said there were no plans for Transend to increase its stake in Maltapost. ‘We think if it achieves its business case the current shareholding arrangements are perfectly adequate to return proper returns to shareholders.