LOS ANGELES and LONDON, August 7, 2025 – Marlin Equity Partners (“Marlin”) is pleased to announce that it has acquired Brightwell Payments Inc. (“Brightwell Navigator” or the “Company”), the maritime crew payroll and payment services division of Brightwell, an Atlanta-based financial technology company that builds the essential infrastructure for global finance, empowering businesses to move money securely, efficiently, and at scale. Brightwell Navigator is known throughout the industry as the premier cruise crew payment solution, putting crew welfare at the heart of their offering. The Company’s e-wallet and embedded cross-border payments product, Navigator, is utilized by cruise lines globally. Brightwell Navigator will be merged with Marcura, a leading maritime technology provider. This acquisition further strengthens Marcura’s embedded payments offerings to create the dominant crew payments solution in the maritime industry. The combined entity will be serving over 150,000 seafarers a month.

“Successful payments businesses are built on a foundation of robust technology infrastructure and scale,” said Stuart Gregory, Chief Executive Officer of MarTrust (Marcura’s payments division). “We have made significant investments in rebuilding our crew account technology platform on next-generation systems. Brightwell Navigator brings the scale and specialized cruise capabilities we need to serve the entire global seafarer community with services that have a meaningful impact on crew welfare.”

“With 25 years in maritime, Marcura is a proven leader,” said John Markendorf, President of Brightwell Navigator. “Their scale, focus, and commitment to crew welfare make them the right home for Navigator’s next chapter. This move builds on the foundation we laid at Brightwell and ensures continuity for both our customers and our team.”

“The Brightwell Navigator team impressed us with their industry leading product offering and dedication to crew welfare. This will complement the existing Marcura offerings, most notably MarTrust,” said Jan-Olivier Fillols, a senior managing director at Marlin. “We believe the combination will deliver an even better service to customers by combining the Brightwell Navigator team’s leading know-how in the cruise market with MarTrust’s advanced technology capabilities.”

About Marlin Equity Partners
Marlin Equity Partners is a global investment firm with nearly $10 billion in capital commitments specializing in the software, technology and services sectors. Marlin’s mission is to partner with exceptional management teams to drive scale and enhance long-term value in businesses through its deep domain expertise, extensive network and operational transformations focused on product innovation, go-to-market enhancements, and strategic M&A. Founded in 2005, Marlin has completed over 260 acquisitions. The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with an additional office in London. For more information, please visit www.marlinequity.com.

About Marcura
Marcura helps maritime move at the speed of trade. As the leading maritime operations network, we digitally enable and automate critical back-office processes - port call management, procurement, compliance, and financial transactions - removing administrative friction while enhancing control and decision-making confidence. Handling over 200,000 port calls, 6 million SOF events, $8 billion in GMV and $14 billion in payments annually, Marcura’s industry-leading products - DA-Desk, MarTrust, ShipServ, Claims, and PortLog - support voyages transporting one-third of global seaborne commodities trade. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Dubai, Marcura operates globally with over 1,000 maritime specialists, dedicated to driving innovation and operational excellence in the industry. For more information, please visit www.marcura.com.

Contact:
Peter Spasov
(310) 364-0100
pspasov@marlinequity.com