GO shareholders will be receiving shares in a new company worth some €51 million following the divestiture of real estate and property formerly owned by the leading telecoms operator.

In a company announcement, GO said it had declared an interim dividend of 33 cents per share (51 cents gross) to be settled “in kind” with all its shareholders in the new Malta Properties Company plc.

Once the transaction is over, by not later than next month, the shares of the new company will be listed on the Malta Stock Exchange.

“This is the completion of the process in which GO has separated its property portfolio from its telecommunications operation,” a stock­broker explained.

“It was now decided that, instead of a monetary dividend, shareholders will get the equivalent in shares in the new company. They can then decide whether to trade their shares on the stock exchange or to keep them.”

The major shareholder, Dubai’s Emirates Inter­national Telecoms, which holds a 60 per cent stake in both companies, has already announced that it is planning to sell its entire stake in GO while retaining its shareholding in the property company.

According to a decision by GO’s board of directors yesterday, all shareholders will receive a share in MPC for every share which they currently hold at GO.

Malta Properties Company Ltd now holds tens of properties all over the island, some of them with a massive footprint and in strategic areas. These include properties in Marsa, Birkirkara, Sliema, Rabat and Gozo.

Most of the properties offer potential for major developments into offices, shopping malls and residential properties. There are some 7,000 shareholders in GO, apart from Emirates International Telecoms.