Salvu Ellul steps in as Mediterranean Maritime Hub faces bond issue

Hundreds of retail investors who bought into Mediterranean Maritime Hub’s €15 million bond issue may have been spared a devastating loss after tuna rancher and developer Saviour Ellul, better known as Salvu ta’ l-Elbros, stepped in with a package for the troubled former Marsa Shipyards concessionaire.

Sources close to the deal told The Shift that Ellul, through his company Ebcon Investments, has finalised an agreement to acquire a major minority stake in MMH, injecting fresh capital to ensure the bond is repaid when it matures in October.

A second major investor, Exult Holdings, owned by the Cassar family of Kalkara and linked to MJK Crane Hire & Logistics, already operating from the MMH,  also acquired a stake together with Sajal Ltd, a company partly owned by the Falzon Group, Malta’s major fuel traders, together with a Swedish partner based in the UAE.

In a company announcement, MMH confirmed that it will transfer a 49% stake to the three companies; however, no details have been provided on the number of shares to be transferred to each of the three new investors.

Sources said the overall deal is valued at around €40 million and is intended not only to cover the €15 million outstanding bond but also MMH’s accumulated losses and millions in unpaid concession fees owed to the government through Indis Malta, the agency responsible for industrial properties.

The company’s latest available financial statements show heavy losses, and MMH has already admitted it was unable to redeem the bond without a major equity injection.

The troubled concessionaire has been trying to secure new financing for years.

Previous negotiations with potential investors repeatedly collapsed after due diligence exposed the company’s liabilities and the restrictive terms of the concession.

Paul Abela, MMH’s majority shareholder and a former Gozo Channel chairman, had attempted to reassure investors by claiming the government had improved certain concession conditions through a side letter. However, the letter has no legal standing and does not amend the original contract.

Abela acquired the 65-year concession for the former Marsa Shipyards site in 2016 under the administration of disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat.

Under the concession agreement, the site was restricted to activities linked to the oil and gas industry.

Yet over the years, MMH has operated outside those parameters, including boatyard services and hosting events, without government intervention to regularise or stop the breaches.

The government has also considered reclaiming the concession, but negotiations halted after Abela rejected compensation offers.

It remains unclear whether the entry of the new investors will be enough to turn MMH’s fortunes.