Tumas Group

The group fully owns some 25 companies, and its stocks are traded at the local exchange as Santumas Shareholdings, with a total market cap of €10.6 million.

"[5] Tumas Fenech, then a police sergeant in Hamrun,[9] and his sons opened the Easysell company in 1973, with a showroom in Qormi, to import and sell furniture and household items.

The company was registered with the considerable capital of 30,000 Maltese lira, and it was soon put under general hypothec, with an overdraft facility by the newly-nationalised Bank of Valletta.

Thanks to access to credit, Easysell started operated as a speculator in the property market, signing various deals in the 1970s, including with people linked to the judiciary.

The company finally bought back the lease in 2006 for sole 800,000 Maltese lira (€1.8 million)[10] The Portomaso land grab was contested by left-wing activists, including Moviment Graffitti, who staged a hunger strike.

The ensuing investigation by Ombudsman Joe Sammut reprimanded the government's failure “to use its negotiating powers to maximise the benefits to be derived from the deal”.

[11] From July 2011 until 2014, Tumas Group was minority shareholder (33%),[12] together with Arriva, of a ten-year concession to operate all scheduled bus services on Malta and Gozo.

[5] Tumas group banded together with Michael Apap Bologna and Gasan Group to found ElectroGas Malta (EGM) as a consortium that also included Siemens Project Ventures GmbH and Socar Trading SA, aimed to build a €510 million new gas-powered plant in Delimara, which would produce electricity by burning liquified gas (LNG) imported from Azerbaijan.

[21] From July 2011 until 2014, Tumas Group was the minority shareholder (33%),[24] together with Arriva, of a ten-year concession to operate all scheduled bus services on Malta and Gozo.