Business valuation services

Which type of valuation report do you need?

Delivery is 2 business days for a smaller industrial business and 3 business days for an established one; for complex and expert matters it is agreed before we start. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received. A second valuation date does not change the report type: each additional date is $495 + GST, in any band, and each additional entity is $795 + GST. We confirm the fee in writing before we start. No hourly billing. The full schedule is on our pricing page, and the sample report shows what a report contains.

Every report values a whole business or an interest in one. Where the earnings do not support the assets, the value may rest instead on what those assets would realise. A formal plant and machinery valuation, for a lender or an insurer, is a separate discipline done by a plant and machinery valuer; where one exists, we can use it as an input. Family law matters are prepared through our dedicated family law practice, Family Law Valuations, as set out below.

Selling an industrial business

A valuation before a sale tests maintainable earnings without the owner, the capital spending the plant will need, the working capital a buyer expects to be left behind, and the customer and certification risks due diligence will find. Done a year or more ahead, it leaves time to fix what can be fixed. See business sale valuations.

Buying an industrial business

Before you sign, an independent valuation rebuilds the vendor's adjusted EBITDA from the accounts, checks finance and ownership of the plant and tooling, tests which contracts survive a change of owner, and sets a normal level of working capital for the completion adjustment. See acquisition valuations.

Shareholder exits and buy-outs

When a shareholder leaves, the shareholders agreement usually decides the basis, the date and whether a minority discount applies, and the departing shareholder's role in the business decides how much value leaves with them. That matters most when the person leaving is the chief engineer or the main customer contact. See shareholder valuations.

Family law property settlements

Family law matters are prepared through our dedicated family law practice, Family Law Valuations: a Settlement Valuation ($2,495 + GST) for negotiation and mediation, or an Expert Report ($4,495 + GST) for proceedings. Its which report guide explains the difference. Our family law page explains how a manufacturing, engineering or transport business is valued in a property settlement.

Tax and restructuring

The tax law needs a market value only in some situations, such as transfers between related parties, the maximum net asset value test for the small business CGT concessions, and some restructures. Your adviser decides whether one is needed and at what date; we provide the value. Industrial groups often need more than one entity valued, because the plant and the factory sit outside the operating company. See tax and restructuring valuations.

Succession planning

A valuation three to five years before a handover shows how much of the value depends on the founder, so the plan can move that dependency to managers or the next generation. It also sets a fair price for a staged management buyout, or equalises what family members receive when one takes the business. See succession and estate valuations.

Deceased estates

Executors need to know what the estate holds and what it is worth, often at the date of death and again at a current date. For assets the deceased acquired before 20 September 1985, the beneficiary's cost base starts at market value on the day of death, which matters for family companies founded before then. See deceased estate valuations.

Employee equity and incentive plans

Industrial companies increasingly use shares or options to keep the people they cannot replace: the production manager who runs the floor, the lead engineer, the estimator who wins the work. Any issue of equity to employees needs a price, and the price needs to be defensible to the employee, the other shareholders and the tax rules.

The ATO lists employee share schemes among the situations that may need a market valuation, because the tax outcome for the employee generally depends on the market value of what they receive compared with what they pay. For companies using the employee share scheme start-up concession, the ATO's legislative instrument LI 2025/19 sets approved methods for valuing unlisted shares. Outside that concession, a market value is still needed and must be objective and supported by evidence. Your tax adviser decides which rules apply.

• What is being issued. Ordinary shares, non-voting shares, options or units carry different rights, and a small parcel with no control is rarely worth its pro rata share of the whole company.
• Leaver terms. Good leaver and bad leaver prices in the shareholders agreement need to work with the valuation basis, or every departure becomes a dispute.
• A regular cadence. Plans that grant each year usually need a value at a fixed date each year, such as 30 June, so each grant is priced on a current figure.

Fees follow the company's turnover, with each additional valuation date at $495 + GST. For a larger staged sale to managers, see the management buyout section of our succession page.

Disputes and expert determinations

Shareholder deadlocks, partnership splits, oppression claims, earn-out and completion accounts disputes all turn on value. We act as independent expert under an agreement where we are independent of both sides, review the other side's valuation, or prepare expert evidence for court as a separate engagement under the court's rules. Dispute work is quoted individually. See dispute valuations.

Finance and transactions

Some valuations are commissioned to support a transaction or a commercial decision rather than a change of owner. In industrial businesses the common ones are:

• Acquisition and buyout funding. A lender funding a purchase or a management buyout looks at whether the business's cash flow, after the capital spending its plant needs, can service the debt. A valuation that deals with capital spending properly answers the question the credit team will ask.
• Bringing in an investor. A family office, private equity fund or strategic partner taking a stake needs a price per share, and the existing owners need to know what they are giving up.
• Joint ventures and contributions. When a manufacturer contributes a division, a product line or a customer contract into a joint venture, each party's contribution needs a value.
• Board decisions. Whether to invest in a new line, close a site or sell a division is easier to decide with a view of what each option does to value.

If a lender or investor will read the report, tell us at the start so they can be named as an intended user where appropriate. A lender wanting security over plant will usually also ask for a plant and machinery valuation. We value the business; we do not advise on whether to borrow, invest or raise capital.

Who do we work with?

• Business owners planning a sale, an exit, a handover or a restructure.
• Accountants who need an independent market value for a client's tax, restructure or succession work. See professional referrals.
• Lawyers acting on shareholder disputes, estates, transactions and commercial claims.
• Financial advisers whose clients' wealth is tied up in an industrial business. We provide the value; they give the advice.
• Buyers testing a vendor's numbers before they commit.
• Sellers who want an evidence-based price before going to market.
• Shareholders entering, exiting or holding a minority stake.
• Family offices buying into or holding private industrial companies.
• Private equity assessing bolt-on acquisitions or pricing management equity.
• Corporate advisers who want an independent value alongside their own work on a mandate.

How do you start?

Tell us the industry, the purpose, approximate turnover and your timing through the quote form or on 0433 475 518 (Mon to Fri, 9am to 5:30pm AEST). A valuer calls to scope the work, then we confirm the scope and the fixed fee in writing. Documents come only through the private upload link on your matter, never by email, and your information stays confidential. Most valuations are completed from documents and conversations; if the operation or the equipment needs to be seen, we say so when scoping and agree any visit and its cost first. How we approach the work is on how we value industrial businesses.