Healthcare and care businesses
Northlight works only in healthcare and care services. In care, what a buyer will pay depends on more than the numbers.
Why care businesses are valued differently
Much of what a buyer pays for isn't on the balance sheet: registrations, clinical governance, staff who stay, and relationships with funders and referrers. A business that isn't ready for that scrutiny sells for less, or doesn't sell.
Where Northlight works
Disability support providers, including registered NDIS providers and community services
Owners and acquirers
For owners, Northlight prepares the business for the questions a buyer will ask and manages the sale. For acquirers, it identifies and qualifies targets that fit, and plans integration before the transaction is signed.
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Who buys care businesses
Buyers include listed and private operators, private equity-backed groups, not-for-profits merging for scale and offshore groups entering Australia. They look for different things. An operator may want more clients in a region it already serves, while a financial buyer may be looking for a platform to build on.
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Rules that shape a sale
In aged care, a registered provider has to tell the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission about certain changes within 14 days, including a change in its responsible persons. In an asset sale, clients can only move to a provider that is already registered, and the transfer needs at least 90 days' notice to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.
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In disability, NDIS registration is linked to a single ABN and can't be transferred to another. Participants can't be moved to a new owner automatically. They have to be told, and they can choose another provider.
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Larger acquisitions must be notified to the ACCC and cleared before they take effect. When working out whether a deal has to be notified, a buyer's acquisitions of similar businesses over the previous three years are added together.