Australia - SMB Acquisition

January 04, 2026

by a searcher from ESSEC Business School in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

I am exploring the idea of small business acquisition. I am looking to connect with people from the Australian SMB ecosystem. So far, the deals I have evaluated tend to have very low SDE / EBITDA. I am looking at $3mm to $5mm EBITDA (not SDE) with $2mm EBITDA being the cut-off. I have some financing available (if it's in Fashion & Apparel) and I am also open to financing options within Australia. It would be great if I can connect with folks from the Australian SMB ecosystem.

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Reply by a searcher
from University of Melbourne in Melbourne VIC, Australia

Hi ^redacted‌, and thanks ^redacted‌ Feel free to DM me to talk more. All going well, I will close on my first acquisition (a Melbourne-based precision metal parts manufacturer with about 20 employees) at the end of January. I am a self-funded searcher and looking to acquire at the bottom end of your range. I, too, started my search from abroad, in my case from the US as an expat Australian. It is very difficult to convince brokers and buyers that you are a qualified and serious buyer when you are living in a different country. They are (rightly) quite skeptical. My search has mostly been through brokers, with some proprietary outreach. I found it difficult (almost impossible) to get return calls from brokers until I set up an Australian mobile number. I was extraordinarily fortunate to find the business that I will acquire very early on in my search (within the first month). I quickly arranged a f2f visit with the seller. That personal contact and availability, I believe, has made the world of difference for the seller, who is well and truly past retirement age. I have now relocated to Melbourne, but making the commitment to visit very early on and just be in listening, exploring and discovery mode, post-IoI, but pre-LoI, showed the seller that I was indeed serious. I still have a few i's to dot and t's to cross to get my transaction over the line, but I can see the finish line. I have been very well supported through diligence, legal, and financing by a strong team of professional partners in Melbourne and Sydney, all of whom are deeply entrenched in the local ETA community, with special thanks to ^redacted‌ for the encouragement and introductions.‌

Reply by a searcher
from University of Queensland in Sydney NSW, Australia

I’d been searching for six months now. I’m not sure if I’ll be of much help. Feel free to reach out, will do my best to help.

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