Vodafone Malta is set to merge with integrated operator Melita to create a stronger competitor to incumbent Go and ensure “sustainable consumer choice over the long term”.

Under the plan Vodafone Malta will own 49 per cent of the combined company, with Melita shareholders Apax Partners MidMarket and Fortino Capital holding the remaining 51 per cent. The deal is subject to approval from Malta’s Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority, and is expected to close in the second half of 2017.

In a statement, Vodafone said the combination: “will create a new fully integrated communications company with the scale and resources required to offer competitive ‘quad-play’ bundled mobile, fixed broadband, fixed telephony, and TV services to Maltese consumers and a full range of enterprise services for businesses and the public sector”.

The mobile and enterprise operations will use the Vodafone brand, offer services including Vodafone’s global products, and “benefit from Vodafone’s extensive operations in mobile and fixed operations worldwide”.

According to GSMA Intelligence figures, Vodafone Malta is the biggest player in the country’s mobile market, with 307,000 connections, followed by Go, with 229,000. Melita Mobile has around 100,000.

It was also said the combined business will generate cost benefits through the rationalisation of overlapping activities and greater network investment efficiency as the company moves through 4.5G to 5G, and gigabit-capable fixed networks.

The company will be headed by Harald Rosch, who is currently CEO of Melita, with Vodafone Malta’s CFO Caroline Farrugia taking up the same role in the  combined company. Vodafone will announce a new role for Amanda Nelson, Vodafone Malta CEO, “in due course”.