Questions owners ask
These are the questions we hear most often from owners, with answers that are general rather than specific to any one business. Your accountant and lawyer will advise on your own circumstances.
Selling your business
When should I start preparing to sell?
Ideally one to three years before you expect to sell, because most of the things that lift the price, such as reducing your own role, tidying up contracts and closing out audit findings, take longer to change than owners tend to expect.
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How long does a sale take?
Six to nine months from the first conversation to completion is typical, with integration running for around 90 days after that. Regulatory notifications and buyer approvals can add time, particularly where a larger acquirer is involved.
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What is my business worth?
In broad terms, it's worth what a well-informed buyer is prepared to pay for the earnings they believe will last. In care businesses that usually comes down to whether clients or participants stay, whether the workforce stays, the state of your registration, and how much of the business depends on you. We don't publish multiples, because without the detail of a particular business they tend to mislead more than they help.
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Should I sell the shares or the assets?
It depends on your registrations, contracts and tax position, and the choice affects which buyers can realistically proceed. In aged care and disability, registration sits with the entity, so a share sale often keeps it in place, whereas in an asset sale the buyer generally needs its own registration. Your lawyer and accountant should advise on your particular situation.
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Will my staff, clients or competitors find out?
We take a lot of care to make sure they don't. Buyers sign confidentiality agreements before they learn the name of the business, information is released to them in stages, and you decide when and how your own team is told.
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Will I have to stay on after the sale?
Often for a period, yes, because buyers of care businesses want continuity for staff, clients and regulators, and part of the price may depend on how the business performs after completion. How long you stay, in what role and on what terms are all things that get negotiated as part of the deal.
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What is an earn-out?
An earn-out is a part of the price that's paid later, once the business reaches agreed targets after completion. It's usually used to bridge a gap when the buyer and seller see future earnings differently, and because the detail determines whether that money is ever paid, the terms deserve as much attention as the headline price.
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Who buys businesses like mine?
Buyers in care include not-for-profit providers, listed operators, private equity backed platforms, private health insurers and trade buyers expanding into new regions or services. Each tends to value the same business differently, which is one of the main reasons we run a competitive process rather than responding to a single approach.
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Does the ACCC need to approve the deal?
Sometimes. Since 1 January 2026, notification has been mandatory above set thresholds. For example, a buyer with Australian revenue of $500 million or more must notify the ACCC when acquiring a business with Australian revenue of $10 million or more, and other tests apply based on the combined revenue of the parties. A buyer's acquisitions of similar businesses over the previous three years are also counted together, so a serial acquirer buying a smaller business can still be caught. In practice this tends to affect the timetable more than the price.
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Do I need to tell the regulator?
Usually, yes. An aged care provider must notify the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission within 14 days of becoming aware of certain changes, such as a change in the people responsible for the business or a significant change in how it is governed, and a registered NDIS provider must notify the NDIS Commission of changes in ownership and key personnel as soon as they happen.
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Working with us
Do you work with my accountant and lawyer?
Yes. They advise on the tax, financial and legal side of the transaction, and we run the process around that work and keep it moving.
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Do you act for buyers as well?
Yes, we act for acquirers on one-off searches, which often include businesses that aren't formally for sale. On any single transaction we act for one side only.
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How are your fees set?
Fees depend on the engagement and are set out in writing before any work begins.
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What if I'm not ready to sell?
Most owners we speak with aren't ready yet, and for them an exit readiness review is usually the most useful place to start.