AX Group purchases Marsa factory for €15 million, next door to site once planned for a tower

AX Group has purchased a disused match box factory in Marsa which dates back to 1950 from the Corinthia Group, for the price of €15 million.

The disused match box factory, known as “The Modern Match Factory Marsa” has an area of 6,923 sqm, and is located on Triq Diċembru Tlettax. The acquisition follows a promise of sale agreement that had been signed on 22nd February 2025. AX Group officially purchased it from Marsa Investments Ltd, which is owned by CPHCL.

“The effect of the transaction is that the property will further consolidate the adjacent properties already owned by AX Business Park Limited. The Group is currently working on plans for the development of the overall site, with a development application to be submitted to the Planning Authority in the near future,” a document filed with the Malta Stock Exchange reads.

Back in 2018, developer Angelo Xuereb (AX Group Chairman) on behalf of Marine World Ltd, had filed an outline planning application for a 37-storey tower next door to the factory. The site’s total area in that application was listed as 13,735 sqm. The application was eventually withdrawn.

Taking the two sites together, the total site area would stand at nearly 21,000 sqm.

The match box factory, while not being a scheduled building, saw the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage call for the preservation of the façade in an application on the site back in 2018.

Cover image: Factory site photo taken from an old Planning Application