Steward Health Care International has told an independent media editor that it will be asking the government to investigate him, after he reported on the company’s opaque ownership structure.
The global healthcare giant, which holds a lease on three Maltese hospitals, accused Malta Today executive editor Matthew Vella of working in collusion with a short seller to drive down the company’s share price.
In a letter sent to Vella, the company said that it has “written to the Government of Malta seeking an investigation into Matthew Vella, Malta Today and their investigative partner, short-seller Viceroy Research LLC, for persistent and malicious inaccurate reporting about the company."
Vella denied any collusion and described Steward’s demands as an example of “first-class bullying”.
“Yet again we have a clear example of private interests in Malta who are using their legal muscle and leverage with the government to cow the Maltese press into submission,” he said.
News of Steward’s request broke at the same time that stakeholders working to reform Malta’s media laws were meeting in Valletta to discuss how to bolster local laws to better protect journalists from, among other things, vexatious lawsuits and corporate bullying.
Vella has written a series of reports about Steward and its ownership structure, which has come under scrutiny in recent months.
The company, which previously formed part of US healthcare giant Steward Systems, was sold off in 2020 and now operates from Spain as SHCI.
SHCI, which runs the Malta hospitals, insists it has no links to the US-based Steward Systems.
SHCI is currently locked in a number of legal battles over its Maltese hospital concessions.
Its claim that it has no ties to Steward Systems has however been called into question by Viceroy Research, an investigative financial research group that focuses on short selling.
Short sellers seek to identify companies that they believe have inflated stock prices and essentially bet against them on the stock market, making money if the share price falls.
Viceroy has claimed that SHCI and Steward Systems are linked through a group of Delaware-listed companies named Manolete.
That claim is relevant to the Maltese hospitals concession as SHCI’s ownership structure could have a significant impact on any eventual court settlement or decision related to the Maltese hospitals deal.
Vella reported on the Viceroy claims and told Times of Malta he had also informed Viceroy that SHCI was denying any ties to Steward Systems.
In a lengthy right of reply to Malta Today, SHCI accused the news outlet and Vella in particular of conducting a “smear campaign on SHCI” to “manipulate and drive down the stock price of Medical Properties Trust (MPT) Inc... in a coordinated campaign akin to securities fraud.”
Vella told Times of Malta that he categorically denied having any financial interest in the matter.
Viceroy Research’s findings, he said, indicated that SHCI was keen to place as much distance as possible between itself and the US-based Steward Systems, due to its ongoing court case in Malta.
“That a company whose operations are financed by the Maltese taxpayer, demands an EU government ‘investigate’ a journalist for reporting allegations about its ownership on the internet and social media, is not unheard of. But such aggression is still flabbergasting in the 21st century. In this climate, the Maltese press is not safe from belligerence of such companies,” Vella said.
Rule of law NGO Repubblika immediately condemned SHCI's move.
"It is unacceptable that a company receiving millions from Maltese taxpayers asks the government to investigate a journalist doing his job by defending Maltese interests," it said. "We expect the Maltese government to adopt a clear position with Steward International and condemn this request."