NEWS | Wednesday, 23 April 2008

GlobalCapital set to take over Mediterranean Bank

Charlot Zahra
In a company announcement on the Malta Stock Exchange (MSE) on 18 April 2008, GlobalCapital p.l.c. announced that on 16 April 2008 it had agreed terms for the acquisition of 85.5% of the issued share capital of Medifin Holding Limited which holds 99.9% of the issued share capital of Mediterranean Bank p.l.c.
According to company records, the other shareholder of Mediterranean Bank p.l.c. is Istvan Burgyan of Manno, Switzerland with the remaining 0.1% of issued share capital.
Medifin Holding Limited’s current shareholders are Canlafin SA of Lugano, Switzerland; CapitalView Limited of New Brunswick, Canada; European Services Marketing Consulting Limited of New Brunswick, Canada; Sunnsett Services Limited of New Brunswick, Canada; The Mercantile Shipping and Coaling Co. – Bianchi and Co (1916) Limited, of Valletta, Malta; Valmafid SA of Lugano, Switzerland; and Dominic Bunford of Montecarlo, Monaco.
“The agreed terms are subject to confirmation following due diligence and further to all necessary regulatory approvals,” GlobalCapital said in its company announcement on Friday.
Mediterranean Bank is an independent credit institution licensed under the Banking Act 1994 and Investment Services Act 1994 by the Malta Financial Services Authority.
Until now, its stated mission was “to preserve and increase the private and institutional assets of an international clientele.” However this might change after the proposed take-over by
GlobalCapital.

Mediterranean Bank was officially opened on 29 September 2006 with a lavish opening ceremony at the bank’s premises at Barbara Bastions in Valletta.
The bank, which features Swiss private bankers among its shareholders and management, together with a 20% shareholding by the Bianchi Group of companies, was granted a banking licence on July 14, 2005 and an investment services license five months later, which was extended to custody for funds in 2006.
Asked by Business Today about the future direction of the bank following the acquisition, a spokesperson chose not to comment pending regulatory approval.
Malcolm Briffa, GlobalCapital’s Head of Marketing, Research and Development, said: “As we indicated the deal is still subject to certain conditions within the agreement and of course regulatory approval.
“Hence, unfortunately at this point in time we cannot disclose any further information about the deal itself other than what was disclosed in last week’s company announcement.
“Such a transaction is very sensitive, and even more so since we are a public quoted company,” he told Business Today.
GlobalCapital is a leading provider of financial services in Malta operating through 5 offices in Malta and Gozo, together with a representative office in Libya. The company operates in the fields of investment services, life insurance services, general insurance brokerage services, private medical insurance as well as property advisory services and property management and consultancy services.
GlobalCapital p.l.c, the parent company of GlobalCapital, was listed on the Malta Stock Exchange (MSE) in 2001 and was the first non-banking financial institution to be listed on the MSE.
The company has just over 1,600 shareholders and a market capitalisation of EUR 66,145,418.12 (as at 30 June 2007). Following the bond issue in 2006, GlobalCapital p.l.c. also has 1,300 bondholders.

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