Industrial business valuations in Adelaide

What replaced the car plants?

Mitsubishi closed its Tonsley assembly plant in 2008, and Holden built its last car at Elizabeth on 20 October 2017. Both sites have been put to new use. Tonsley is now an innovation district on the 61 hectare former Chrysler and Mitsubishi site, which Renewal SA says supports more than 2,000 workers across 150 organisations. The former Holden site at Elizabeth is now Lionsgate Business Park, a 123 hectare facility the City of Playford says has been retained for manufacturing, and part of the old factory is being converted into an Australia Post parcel hub due to open in late 2028.

For valuation, what matters is the supplier base the closures left behind, which had to find new customers. A component maker that replaced its Holden revenue with defence, mining or medical device work has a different risk profile from one still selling parts for models that are no longer built. We weight the years since the change, and we test whether the new markets came with new tooling, certifications and working capital that the business has already paid for.

How is a defence supplier in Adelaide valued?

Defence SA describes Osborne Naval Shipyard as Australia's largest naval shipbuilding hub, supporting the Hunter class frigates, the Arafura class offshore patrol vessels, Collins class submarine sustainment and the future build of submarines for the AUKUS program. North of the city, the City of Playford says the Edinburgh Defence Precinct is home to one of only two super bases in the country, with more than 3,700 ADF personnel and 2,000 Australian Public Servants, and that Boeing Defence Australia is developing a $160 million P-8A Poseidon maintenance facility on the base's northern perimeter.

Supplying those programs can make a business more valuable, but only for the part that is secure. We look at whether revenue comes through a long-term subcontract or a run of purchase orders, how far the current tranche of work runs, how many primes the business supplies, and what its security, quality and export control arrangements cost to maintain. A supplier with three primes across ships, aircraft and land systems is in a different position from one with a single package on one program, even if their last two years look the same. The defence manufacturing guide covers this in depth.

Why skilled labour is the constraint we test

Large shipbuilding and sustainment programs need welders, electricians, fitters, designers and engineers, the same people smaller suppliers rely on. When a program is ramping up, a supplier can lose experienced staff quickly. We look at staff turnover, wage growth over the last two years, how many people hold the key qualifications or clearances, and whether the owner is still the chief estimator or the only person the prime's buyers deal with.

If the business would lose its main contract relationships when the owner steps back, a buyer will price that in. Starting succession planning a few years ahead gives time to build a second tier of management and fix it.

What did Whyalla teach South Australian suppliers about credit risk?

On 19 February 2025 the South Australian Government placed OneSteel Manufacturing, the GFG Alliance company that owns the Whyalla steelworks, into administration. In the months before, contractors had reported being owed money, and the state had called on GFG to pay the tens of millions of dollars owed to creditors.

In a valuation, a large overdue debtor raises two questions. Is the receivable recoverable, and at what amount? And was the customer's slow payment a one-off, or a sign that the business depends on customers it cannot afford to lose? We review aged receivables at the valuation date, treat a write-off as a normalising adjustment only where it is genuinely unusual, and reflect the concentration behind it in the risk we apply. Our article on working capital explains the mechanics.

Servicing Adelaide and South Australia

A supplier at Edinburgh or Osborne and one in Whyalla, Port Augusta, the Riverland or Mount Gambier go through the same steps: documents through the private upload link on your matter, and calls with a suitably qualified business valuer at Valuation Group. Nothing depends on a visit to an Adelaide office. We confirm the fee in writing before we start. No hourly billing. The fee bands are on our pricing page and our methods on how we value.