Malta International Airport plc - Public Share Offer

On Wednesday 5 October, the Government formally launched the public share offer of 13,530,000 ordinary ‘A’ shares in Malta International Airport plc (representing 20% of the issued share capital of the company) at a price of Lm1.40 per share.

This is the third phase of MIA's privatisation. In July 2002, the Government of Malta sold 27,060,000 ordinary 'B' shares to Malta Mediterranean Link Consortium Ltd. (MML). MML is made up of VIE (Malta) Ltd., which owns 57.1% of the issued share capital of the consortium, SNC-Lavalin (Malta) Ltd., holders of 38.75% of the share capital, and Airport Investments Ltd. with a 4.15% equity stake. VIE (Malta) Ltd. is owned by Flughafen Wien/Berlin Brandenburg International and Vienna International Beteiligungsmanagement Gesellschaft M.B.H, developers and operators of the Vienna International Airport. SNC-Lavalin (Malta) Ltd., is owned by SNC-Lavalin Inc and SNC-Lavalin International Inc of Canada. The SNC-Lavalin Group is one of the leading engineering and construction firms in the world and a key player in the ownership and management of infrastructure.

In November 2002, the Government offered 13,530,000 ordinary 'A' shares to the General Public, which were fully subscribed at 73c per share, and retained a total of 27,059,995 ordinary 'A' shares and 5 'C' shares. MIA's entire ordinary 'A' shares (40,589,995) were admitted to the Official List of the Malta Stock Exchange on the 16 December 2002.

The public offer is split up in 3 distinct offerings: the Employee Offering, the Malta Government Privatisation Bond Offering and the General Offering.

1. The Employee Offering, which consists of 405,900 shares, representing 3% of the shares on offer, to the Company’s employees and Directors at a 5% discount to the offer price of 140c.

2. The Malta Government Privatisation (MGP) Bond Offering, which consists of 5,194,500 shares and is restricted to those investors holding MGP bonds as at 26 September 2005. Such investors are entitled to convert their bonds into shares. The conversion of the bonds will be made at par value (100%) and therefore bondholders exercising this option will be forfeiting the bond’s redemption premium. These bonds are due to be redeemed on 14 November 2005 at a premium of 15% subject to a 15% withholding tax, i.e. at Lm112.75 for every Lm100 nominal.

More importantly the General Offering, which consists of 7,929,600 shares together with any shares not allotted in the above offerings, is divided into 2 Categories:

1. The Category A offering is for those applications up to 50,000 shares being offered at the fixed price of Lm1.40 per share. It opens on Thursday 13 October and closes on Friday 21 October or earlier in the event of over-subscription (but not prior to the closure of the Employee and MGP Bond Offerings on Wednesday 19 October).

2. The Category B offering is for applications in excess of 50,000 shares. Applications for this Category must be in the form of sealed bids for a minimum of 50,100 shares and in multiples of 100 thereafter at a bid price which cannot be lower than Lm1.40 per share. Applicants under Category B may submit more than one sealed bid but may NOT also apply under Category A. Applications under Category B will only be considered after applications under Category A have been allocated in full. Applications under Category B will be ranked in descending order of price. Shares will be allotted to those applications with the highest bid prices and then in descending order until the available number of shares have been fully allotted. The Category B offering opens on Thursday 13 October at 08.30 hours and closes on Friday 14 October at 17.00 hours.

It is important to note that applicants purchasing shares in this Offering may be entitled to a dividend, if any, in respect of the interim period ending 30 September 2005.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Category A
Clients interested in applying for shares under this Category are requested to complete an application form which can be obtained from our offices.

Kindly note that applications under Category A of the General Offering must be for a minimum of 500 shares (Lm700) and in multiples of 100 shares (Lm140) thereafter.

Category B
Those clients interested in applying for an amount in excess of 50,000 shares are requested to contact us immediately to set up a mutually convenient appointment to complete the tender application. Such investors have only two days within which to lodge their application by tender since this offer closes on Friday 14 October at 17.00 hours.

As with all previous primary market offers, investors may wish to note that our services in such circumstances are FREE OF CHARGE.

Further information on the MIA share offer including a full Offering Circular can be made available on request by contacting our offices.