What we acquire
Essential businesses other businesses depend on
We acquire unglamorous, essential B2B manufacturing, distribution and service businesses. Here is exactly what fits, and what doesn't.
Read this first
What we don’t acquire
Startups. Retail. Hospitality. Franchises. Businesses that depend on one customer for most of their revenue. And any business whose value walks out the door with the owner on day one.
If that rules you out, we would rather you knew in the first minute than after a phone call. It also tells you something about the businesses we do acquire: we buy durability, not fashion.
The common thread
Every business we acquire shares one property: somebody has to keep paying for the work. The revenue is contracted or recurring, often driven by compliance obligations, and the customers are other businesses. Linen has to be washed weekly. Grease traps have to be pumped under trade waste agreements. Instruments have to be recalibrated for quality audits. Fabricated products, components and equipment have to keep being made, stocked and serviced for the businesses that build with them.
The value in these businesses sits in route density, licences, accreditations, tooling, technician skill and customer relationships built over decades, rather than in anything fashionable. That is not a weakness. It is why the revenue survives recessions, and it is why we want it.
The criteria
| Criterion | What we look for |
|---|---|
| Trading history | 15 years or more, ideally 20 or more |
| Team size | Roughly 10 to 40 people |
| Revenue | $2 million to $5 million a year, as a guide |
| Revenue quality | Contracted, recurring or repeat B2B work rather than one-off projects |
| Owner situation | Typically 60 or over, thinking about succession, often the sole director |
| Location | NSW, Victoria and Queensland first, then SA and WA, then ACT, Tasmania and the NT |
| Ownership | We acquire 100% of the business |
These criteria are a guide, not a gate. If your business doesn’t tick every box, we would rather have the conversation than miss something good.
The twenty company types
We focus on twenty company types we have studied closely, in three groups. Each page below describes the business the way an owner would, and what we look for when we acquire in it.
Manufacturing and fabrication
Workshops and factories that make the products other businesses build with, handle and depend on.
- Sheet metal and general metal fabrication
- Niche industrial equipment manufacturers
- Structural steel fabrication
- Building and construction product manufacturers
- Safety, access and infrastructure product manufacturers
- Material handling and storage equipment manufacturers
- Precision engineering and CNC manufacturing
- Powder coating and industrial surface treatment
- Commercial kitchen and stainless equipment manufacturing
- Specialised trailer and vehicle body manufacturing
- Industrial tanks, vessels and fluid handling products
- Specialised commercial and industrial product manufacturers
Distribution
The specialised distributors that keep trade and industry stocked.
Essential services
Established, essential B2B services with recurring revenue.
Not sure if your business fits?
Have the conversation anyway. It is confidential, costs nothing, and commits you to nothing.