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5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 16 SEPTEMBER 2026 NEWS Izola Bank set to get new French shareholder IZOLA Bank's shareholder, the Van Marcke Group, will trans- fer its shares to French company Azure Financial Ltd for an un- disclosed sum, once regulatory clearance is obtained. In a company announcement on the Malta Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Izola Bank plc said its shareholders and Azure Fi- nancial Limited entered into a share purchase agreement that would see the latter acquire 100% of the bank's issued share capital. "The transaction also provides for a capital injection of €2.8 million into the bank by Az- ure Financial Limited through the subscription of newly is- sued shares, which is expected to take place shortly following signing and subject to regula- tory and board approval," the announcement said. Izola Bank had announced back in April that its share- holders were holding discus- sions with various potential investors for the transfer of ownership. Last month, the bank announced that a number of binding offers were received. The transaction contem- plates that, upon receipt of all required regulatory approvals and completion, the bank's existing shareholder, the Van Marcke Group, will acquire a minority shareholding in Az- ure Financial Limited. "This reflects the contin- ued involvement of the bank's current shareholder in the fu- ture development of the bank alongside the new majority shareholder," the announce- ment said. Azure Financial Limited is currently wholly owned by Groupe Bricks SAS, a French-incorporated holding company and the parent un- dertaking of the Bricks group based in Montpellier. Through its wholly owned op- erating subsidiary, Bricks SAS, the group operates a regulated digital real estate investment platform. In addition to its platform activities, the group is active across the real estate value chain through real estate origination, investment and asset management, property management, retail real estate operations and hospitality in- vestments. Completion of the transaction remains subject to obtaining all necessary regulatory approvals. Izola Bank is wholly owned by the Van Marcke Group of Bel- gium, a family-owned company that is a plumbing and heating wholesaler in Belgium, and manufacturer and retailer of sanitary ware, laboratory furni- ture, and related products. The Van Marcke Group es- tablished a banking arm to ini- tially serve its own commercial needs, setting up Izola Bank in Malta in 1994. The bank, based in Valletta, eventually branched out to offer financing solutions for SMEs and large companies in Malta and Belgium, as well as savings accounts for person- al deposits. KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Local dairy producers mulling investing in cow cooling systems after hot summer MALTA'S dairy farmers are brainstorming ideas to keep their industry alive in the face of rising temperatures gripping the islands for prolonged periods of time. Last week, Benna, also known as Malta Dairy Products (MDP) announced that some of its prod- ucts faced limited supplies after exceptionally high summer tem- peratures reduced fresh milk pro- duction. Speaking to MaltaToday Noel Fenech, the president of Ko- perattiva Produtturi tal-Ħalib (KPH) which represents Maltese dairy farmers and owns 70% of MDP, explained that the summer months always bring about re- duced milk production. But this year, the scorching temperatures gripped Malta for a longer period of time. Fenech explained that this left dairy pro- ducers' cows with less appetite, and less milk was produced. Fortunately, the relatively low- er temperatures experienced in recent days mean that dairy pro- ducers have a better chance of increasing their milk production. But Fenech acknowledged that summer after summer, temper- atures seem to keep climbing, leaving producers scratching their heads at what they can do to safeguard their industry. Pointing to the fact that such heat is im- pacting foreign dairy producers, Fenech said that Malta's indus- try players will look beyond the country's shores to find inspira- tion from other producers facing the same problem. At this point, however, all the solutions point toward the con- struction of cooling systems for cows. This, Fenech explained, would require hundreds of thousands, if not millions of euros in in- vestment, which is a daunting thought when one takes into con- sideration the competition from foreign milk producers. Should local producers turn to cooling systems, Fenech didn't exclude the possibility of produc- ers asking for government to in- tervene in cushioning the price of the energy needed to keep cows cool. MATTHEW FARRUGIA mfarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt