Vodafone Malta and Melita quit plans to merge after failing to reach an agreement with the country’s competition authorities.

The two unveiled a proposal to combine their businesses in May and subsequently submitted the proposition to the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA), with a target completion date of H2 2017.

Under the merger agreement, Vodafone would have held 49 per cent of the newly formed operator with the remainder owned by Melita shareholders.

The pair currently command a 67 per cent combined market share, according to estimates for Q3 from GSMA Intelligence. Vodafone Malta is the country’s market leader with 363,000 connections and Melita is number three with around 106,000. The only other operator in the market – Go – has 235,000.

Earlier in the year, Vodafone said the deal would facilitate the creation of a “fully integrated communications company with the scale and resources required to offer competitive quad-play bundled mobile, fixed broadband, fixed telephony, and TV services.”

In a statement announcing the termination of talks, Vodafone Group said: “It has now become clear that the parties are unable to satisfy the MCCAA’s requirements and consequently they have decided to terminate the transaction and withdraw the notification.”