GO plc - Completion of Property Transfers

On 9 May 2012, GO plc announced that Parliament has approved the transfer of properties between GO and the Government of Malta as explained in the announcement published on 24 February 2012. In this earlier announcement, GO plc revealed that it had reached an agreement with the Government of Malta for the transfer of eleven properties from the Government to the Company. These properties, which mainly consist of telephone exchanges, are already occupied by the Company and form part of the Company’s core operations but GO never had full and proper legal title to them. On the other hand, GO will transfer back to the Government the full ownership and all rights pertaining to or on the land situated in Qawra valued at €13.8 million. The 2011 Annual Report revealed that GO will recognise a gain of €11.4 million in the income statement during 2012 from this transfer of property.

During yesterday’s Annual General Meeting, GO plc announced that it set up a new holding company for the various properties it owns including the former head office which has now been vacated. This Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) called Malta Properties Company Limited has a property portfolio valued at €50 million. The Board of Directors will be seeking advice on the best way to extract value from such properties.