Maltese media outlet Lovin Malta has announced the sale of a majority stake in the company to an investment venture run by a Malta-based web entrepreneur. 

Recently launched Qamar Ventures, spearheaded by entrepreneur Alexandre Dreyfus, will acquire 72% of the company over the next year, Lovin Malta said in an article on the company’s website.   

Qamar Ventures was launched last week with plans to invest some €10 million in Malta’s media, technology, entertainment, sports and e-commerce sectors.  

Lovin Malta said its management team will remain in place, both operationally and as minority shareholders in the company. Luke Frendo will join David Grech and Bettina Falzon as directors, with Falzon and Ally Stivala continuing as COO and CEO, respectively. 

The media outlet’s subsidiaries TrustedTutors.com, MeetInc.com.mt, and DealToday.com.mt will now operate under Qamar Ventures as part of the deal, with Lovin Malta retaining its minority stake in student platform Freehour.

Dreyfus said that following 17 years living in Malta, he was “aware of the untapped potential present here and want to help harness it” while calling the acquisition the “next step” for the media outlet.

Lovin Malta co-owner and director David Grech said the acquisition will enable the company to “expand its reach and services while staying true to its mission of delivering exceptional journalism and entertainment”.

The media company was founded in 2016 by former Times of Malta journalist Christian Peregin, who resigned as CEO and director and relinquished his shares in 2021 to join the Nationalist Party as its electoral campaign strategist.

Dreyfus, Qamar Ventures’ CEO, is founder of blockchain companies Chiliz and Socios.com. He started out as an entrepreneur at the age of 18 with his first company Mediartis, and later founded Webcity which was eventually acquired by Yelp.

Information on those behind Qamar Ventures was not available at the time of publication, with the company not yet listed on the Malta Business Registry.