This purchase is one of Maritime’s most significant acquisitions. A once-in-a-career, technically demanding receivership transaction, it required structuring discipline, cross-jurisdiction problem-solving and the ability to direct large advisory teams to a single outcome.
This is exactly where Maritime adds value: finding opportunity in complexity, moving decisively when certainty matters, using and protecting investor capital through disciplined execution.
The asset is a major city centre retail and leisure scheme. It produces circa £2.6 million in net operating income and was acquired for an 86% reduction in pricing from its 1990s value of £125 million.
But the transaction was not a straightforward property purchase.
It was a debt deal completed through a receivership sale, with clients of Maritime acquiring both the debt position and the company that owned the asset. This approach provided control, but it demanded an exceptional level of technical input across legal, tax, corporate, insolvency, banking and property disciplines.
The opportunity first appeared on the open market in late 2024. Maritime remained close to the process and continued to track the deal as it progressed. When the initial buyer failed to complete, the receivers returned to Maritime and we moved quickly to secure the acquisition. The deal was agreed in July 2025 and completed in mid-December.
What made this purchase uniquely challenging was the seller’s corporate structure. The ownership vehicle had a complex GP and LP framework spanning UK and offshore entities. Critically, one nominee company that formed part of the chain had been dissolved prematurely, creating a legal problem: how to move the asset from a dissolved vehicle into a live one in a way that was robust, compliant and acceptable to all parties.
Multiple advisory teams reviewed the issue across UK and Guernsey jurisdictions, and none had encountered the same situation before.
To deliver the acquisition, Maritime coordinated a team of around 20 specialist advisors, including stamp duty and corporate tax specialists, UK and Guernsey corporate counsel, banking lawyers, property lawyers, receivers, insolvency experts and liquidators.
Managing the volume of input was a task in itself. With the number of professionals involved, every issue sparked more analysis, more opinions and a constant flow of correspondence.
Legal and advisory fees created a large abortive liability but given the intense management of the various team members the team was orchestrated to run efficiently without unnecessary time in the clock. Given the scale and challenges on this purchase the cost exposure could have been astronomical for transactions of this nature.
Tight direction and decisive decision-making were essential throughout the process.
Maritime Capital director Toby Hunter’s nationally-recognised tax and legal knowledge provided the steer needed to keep all parties aligned and ensure the deal remained executable.
A further execution hurdle emerged late in the process. The acquisition required the sale of the owner company to secure the intended outcome. That, in turn, required 11 separate signatures from private investors spread across eight time zones, including Hong Kong, Switzerland, North Carolina and the British Virgin Islands.
These were individuals who had lost their original investments and had not engaged with the structure for years, making the process unusually sensitive.
The fund manager coordinated the signature process, while Maritime tracked progress daily to keep momentum and protect the completion timetable.
This acquisition demanded excellence far beyond the normal mechanics of property. It is a clear example of Maritime’s ability to unlock opportunity where complexity deters others, and to deliver outcomes through disciplined execution.
