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Kurt Sansone
Dubai-based Tecom Investment, the company interested in developing the Ricasoli industrial estate into a hi-tech internet city, is also in the running with two other companies for the purchase of government’s 60 per cent shareholding in Maltacom, sister publication Business Today revealed mid-week.
Officially, Maltacom’s privatisation and the Smartcity bid are two distinct processes despite the common presence of Tecom Investment.
Asked to comment about Tecom’s bid for the 60 per cent stake in Maltacom, IT Minister Austin Gatt told Business Today it was not his practice to comment on privatisation processes “except on an official basis.”
“It is more than obvious that any official pronouncement may have an effect on the market. This Ministry will stick to the well-trusted practice of commenting officially at crucial moments of the process,” Gatt told Business Today.
Earlier last month Business Today had revealed that three companies submitted binding bids for government’s 60 per cent stake in Maltacom with the bidders being Cable & Wireless, OgerTelecom from Saudi Arabia and a telecoms company from Dubai. The Dubai company is Tecom Investment.
Although not operating as a telecommunications operator in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where telecoms is the remit of the state monopoly Etisalat, Tecom Investment has the privilege of being the sole provider of telecom services to Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City tenants. Tecom Investment is the holding company behind the two hi-tech zones and is owned by Dubai Holding.
Both zones cater for 1,000 or so companies including high profile investors such as Microsoft, Reuters and CNN. These companies lease their telecom services from Tecom not Etisalat.
A 2004 report in the UAE-based Gulf Business had described Tecom Investment as “one of the more vocal advocates of opening up the telecom sector” in the emirates.
In December last year, Tecom Investment acquired a 40 per cent stake in Axiom Telecom, the largest distributor and retailer of wireless products in the UAE.
The investment was reported as being part of Tecom’s “strategic objective to tap into high-growth sectors and to create synergies for future technology projects.”
Commenting after the deal was struck, Ahma bin Byat, CEO of Tecom Investment said: “Tecom's strategic objective is to diversify its business interests by investing in high-growth technology sectors.”
It seems that Tecom’s strategic objective also includes a controlling stake in Maltacom.
ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt
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