The Maldives government will buy back shares it sold in the telecoms operator Dhiraagu and in the state water utility. President Mohamed Muizzu has announced.
President Muizzu told a news conference on Monday that raising the government’s holding in Dhiraagu to 51% was among his administration’s most important decisions.
The shares had been sold by an earlier Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) government, he said, describing the stake as a major state asset and the repurchase as a move made for the benefit of the public.
“Work to raise the government’s majority control in Dhiraagu, in the shares it sold, to 51% has now begun,” Muizzu said. “All the work required for this will move ahead at speed.”
He also said the government would acquire the 20% stake held in the Malé Water and Sewerage Company (MWSC) by Japan’s Hitachi. The state currently owns the other 80% of the water utility.
That hold was sold to Hitachi in January 2010, during the presidency of Mohamed Nasheed.
Dhiraagu was set up as a joint venture, with the Maldivian government holding 55% and Britain’s Cable & Wireless 45%.
In 2009, Nasheed’s government sold 7% of the state’s holding to Cable & Wireless for USD 40 million, cutting the government stake to 48%.
Two years later, the government sold a further 6.2% to the public and converted Dhiraagu into a publicly listed company, leaving the state with 41.8%.
Cable & Wireless later sold its interest to Bahrain\s Batelco, which holds 52% of Dhiraagu through BTC Islands Limited. The remaining 6.2% is held by retail shareholders.
Reaching 51% would require the government to acquire at least 9.2 percentage points of stock, most of which sits with Batelco.
The president did not say how the purchases would be financed, or give a timeline for either transaction.