Marshall Aerospace has agreed to be acquired by Aurelius Group, a German-headquartered private equity firm.
The deal, which includes Cambridge Airport and Cambridge Aero Club, has been registered with the Austrian Federal Competition Authority and will be subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.
Marshall plans to relocate from Cambridge Airport by the end of the decade, unlocking the site for a major housing development.
But it cancelled its proposed move to relocate to Cranfield Airport in Bedfordshire last October, calling it “no longer affordable”.
That followed a challenging 2024, when it posted a loss of £55.5million and reduced its workforce by more than 300 people.
In May, the historic company announced it was “exploring options to secure the best possible long-term future for the Aerospace business, which has included discussions with a shortlist of highly committed potential buyers”.
It said its focus was on “ensuring a stable and sustainable future for the business, its people and its operations”.
The acquisition is subject to a review by the UK government under the National Security and Investment Act, as Marshall is a key defence contractor. Marshall Group shareholders must also give the green light and Austrian antitrust approval will be required for the deal to proceed.
No amount has been disclosed.
The announcement on Austrian Federal Competition Authority said: “Aurelius Investment Lux Alpha S.à.rl, Luxembourg, intends to acquire, indirectly through a wholly-owned subsidiary, 100 per cent of the shares in Marshall of Cambridge Aerospace Limited, United Kingdom; Marshall Aerospace & Defence France SAS, France; Marshall Middle East Ltd and its associated branch in the UAE; Marshall Cambridge Airport Ltd, United Kingdom; and Cambridge Aero Club Ltd, United Kingdom.
“The business activity in question is the repair and maintenance of military combat vehicles, aircraft, spacecraft, and warships.”
Aurelius employs more than 400 people working out of 10 offices in Europe, North America and Asia.
The deal could be completed by the end of the month.
It follows an announcement in June that housebuilder The Hill Group and Homes England, with its National Housing Bank, had acquired the 700-acre Cambridge East site around the airport for £200million to deliver one of the UK’s largest urban extension projects.
Cambridge East is expected to deliver more than 10,000 new homes, at least three million sq ft of commercial space and support around 9,000 jobs. It is being described as a new urban quarter for the city, and is expected to be served by a new Cambridge East railway station, on the East West Rail line.
Marshall is one of Cambridge’s most famous names and for most of its history was a family-run company.
It was started in 1909 by David Marshall as Brunswick Motor Car Company, a garage and chauffeur company, in a former stable in Brunswick Gardens, Cambridge.
The aviation side of the business started by accident in 1912, after a Beta II airship made an emergency landing on Jesus Green, not far from Jesus Lane, where the company was by then based. Marshall mechanics fixed up the airship – and today it continues to specialise in aircraft maintenance.
David Marshall, meanwhile, had bought his first plane, an ex-Royal Flying Corps Handley Page 0/400 twin bomber for £5 in 1919.
It was his son, Sir Arthur Marshall, who established Cambridge City Airport – originally a 45-acre farm – in 1929 and a flying school was established the following year.
A much larger aerodrome, with the iconic control building, opened on the current site in 1937 and by the end of the Second World War had trained more than 20,000 aircrew, including 600 RAF pilots in time for the Battle of Britain.
The company, which worked on a host of aircraft from the Douglas Dakota to Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, was run by Sir Arthur from 1942 to 1989 before it was handed over to his eldest son, Sir Michael Marshall, who ran it until 2016 – three years before his death in 2019, aged 87. It was in 2019 that the company announced its intention to move from Cambridge Airport and a search began for alternative premises.
Sir Michael’s son, Robert, was vice chairman and group chief executive of the Marshall Group of companies until 2021, when he stepped down to concentrate on building the company’s investment arm, Martlet Capital, as an independent company.
In 2022, it sold its interests in Marshall Motor Group to the Constellation Motor Group, known for the brands WeBuyAnyCar and Cinch, ending over a century of involvement in the motor trade.
Marshall Aerospace has continued, however, to support air forces around the world, although a major blow came in 2023 when, 12 years earlier than expected, the RAF retired its C-130 Hercules fleet on which the company had worked since 1966.
Then in November 2025, Marshall sold its Marshall Land Systems division to Canadian investment firm Flowing River Capital Partners. In May 2026, it was announced that it planned a phased move of the Land Systems’ production facility from Cambridge to Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales, putting 158 employees’ jobs at risk. Production in Cambridge is due to end by 31 March 2027.
Aurelius Group did not wish to comment on the proposed acquisition of Marshall Aerospace.