Martley Capital and Aquis Exchange to Set Up New Real Assets Market Segment

Martley Capital Group, the real estate investment company founded by Richard Croft, is working with London-based Aquis Exchange PLC, to establish a new segment of the Aquis Growth Market dedicated to trading in real asset backed investments.

The initiative will see Aquis Technologies – the Group’s software and technology division – utilising its state-of-the-art trading platform and London-based point of presence to provide the new segment with connectivity, trading mechanisms and scalability.

The new real assets segment, called Aram, or Aquis Real Asset Market, will, subject to regulatory approval, launch in the second half of the year and will be open to companies owning commercial real estate, other real assets including infrastructure, land and forestry, and debt products in these sectors. Martley Capital, together with other stakeholders, has established Martley Capital Aram Ltd (Mcaram) as a new specialist adviser to support the market.

Aram will be the third segment established on the Aquis Growth Market, alongside the two existing segments, Access and Apex. The Aquis Growth Market offers a more accessible route to raising capital, with proportionate costs and ease of admission.

“Who wouldn’t be excited about getting involved with the biggest asset class in the world? We are looking forward to working with Richard Croft and the Martley Capital team, utilising Aquis’ innovative technology and primary market expertise to enable investors to access commercial property and other real assets via the public markets.”

“I have been a long-term believer in the fractionalisation of real estate and the need to create a more liquid way to invest in the world’s largest asset class. The opportunity to help establish the new segment of the Aquis market to address this need is exciting for both Martley Capital and me personally.”

In the ten years since it was set up as a pan-European multilateral trading facility to challenge the status quo of an established equity trading environment, Aquis has grown to become Europe’s seventh largest exchange group by volume. Over six thousand major and mid-cap stocks across the UK and Europe trade on its platform, with volumes reaching approximately €2 billion per day. Aquis launched the Aquis Stock Exchange in 2021 to provide a tailored and supportive listings venue for UK growth companies and has since grown to become the most successful growth company exchange in the UK by number of issues.

Founded by Richard Croft, the award-winning co-founder and former Chief Executive of M7 Real Estate, Martley Capital Group launched in December 2023 with several new funds and individual transactions with an opportunistic and value add focus covering credit, equities and direct real estate.

Martley Capital Group, which is also instructed on a number of asset and investment management advisory mandates, has five offices across the UK and Central Europe and around 40 staff including Tony Edgley, former partner at Brockton; Alison Lambert, former head of finance for Europe at Oxford Properties and Jack Thoms, former head of investment management at M7.