Advised on the sale of Oxygen Private Clients, a Melbourne based accounting practice.
The Problem
Oxygen Private Clients was a Melbourne based accounting practice focusing on business clients, high net wealth individuals, and family offices.
As part of the managing principal’s succession strategy, the practice’s two shareholders decided to go to market to find a suitable acquirer/merger partner.
Given that the shareholders had differing succession timelines, one short term and one mid to long term, they had diverse objectives they wanted to achieve from a transaction.
Key transaction objectives included:
- Achieving at or above market price & terms.
- Continuation of the practice’s client engagement model.
- An ongoing role for the managing principal to continue working in the practice for at least two years, without day-to-day management responsibilities.
- Retention of all staff with a career path for promotion, including equity ownership; and
- An acquirer with sufficient scale to support the growth aspirations of the practice and manage/assist back-office operations.
The Solution
The initial step involved JNP Advisory completing a strategic review to appraise the business and confirm the objectives of all key stakeholders.
Upon completing the strategic review, a discrete marketing campaign was undertaken with a focus on acquirers/merger partners who would be likely to pay a premium to establish a presence in the Melbourne private client market and have the infrastructure to support the career development of the team and the future growth of the practice.
JNP Legal were closely involved in the transaction from the term sheet stage and completed the legal documentation, resulting in a seamless and timely execution of the transaction.
The diversity of parties introduced by JNP Advisory ensured we selectedan acquirer which was a cultural fit and aligned to our objectives.
David Bilston-McGillen, Managing Principal, Oxygen Private Clients
The Outcome
- 6-week marketing campaign
- 35 parties registered their interest
- 10 parties interviewed
- 5 expressions of interest lodged
The successful purchaser was a Sydney based firm owned by a global private equity firm looking to establish a presence in Melbourne. The practice’s back-office operations were integrated into the purchaser, whilst the practice client engagement model was retained. The purchaser was able to offer participation inits equity scheme to key staff.
All clients and revenue were retained with the retention holdback amount paid in full.
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