Who We Help
9 Bridge is being built around the needs of buyers assessing established Australian businesses. Our educational content is intended to help buyers move beyond listing information and evaluate the underlying economics, risks and ownership requirements of an acquisition.
Executives considering business ownership
Experienced executives may understand how to operate within a successful organisation but have limited experience acquiring one. The transition from employee to owner introduces unfamiliar decisions involving valuation, financing, transaction structure, due diligence and personal capital exposure. Our content helps executives develop a structured approach to assessing whether a business is both financially attractive and operationally suitable for them to own.
Private investors and high-net-worth buyers
Private buyers frequently encounter fragmented information, seller-prepared adjustments and inconsistent market evidence. Attractive headline returns can change materially after allowing for working capital, replacement management, capital expenditure, financing costs and transaction risk. 9 Bridge focuses on the analytical questions that help investors distinguish a strong underlying business from an attractive-looking transaction summary.
SME owners considering bolt-on acquisitions
An acquisition can add customers, capability, geography or scale, but it can also introduce integration problems and distract management from the existing business. Our acquisition framework considers strategic fit, earnings overlap, customer retention, operating dependencies, integration requirements and the capacity of the combined business to support the purchase price.
First-time business buyers
First-time buyers are particularly vulnerable to information imbalance. The seller and broker may have significantly more experience with business transactions than the buyer. Our resources are intended to help buyers understand the acquisition process, organise their questions and recognise when specialist accounting, legal, taxation, finance or industry advice is required.
Current Research Profile
The present 9 Bridge research focus includes businesses with:
- At least three years of operating history
- Verifiable and sustainable earnings
- Recurring or repeat customer demand
- Reasonable cash conversion
- Limited dependence on a single owner
- Identifiable management and operational processes
- Understandable capital expenditure and working-capital requirements
- A credible transition plan
We place less emphasis on early-stage startups, speculative concepts, distressed turnarounds and businesses without a sufficiently reliable earnings history.
Start with the acquisition framework
Explore the questions buyers should ask before committing time, capital and professional costs to a transaction