A permanent home for Australian businesses
A long-term owner for owners planning succession or a partial sale.
About Yarranvale
Yarranvale exists to buy and hold Australian small and medium-sized businesses for the long term.
Yarranvale is backed by private family capital. There is no fund and no exit clock. When we buy a business, we plan to hold it for decades.
That matters because the best privately-held businesses in Australia weren't built to be traded every five years. They were built to serve customers, employ people and generate cash over long periods. Our capital is designed to match how these businesses actually work.
We are not raising money to complete a transaction.
What we look for
The kind of businesses we buy.
Size
We generally focus on businesses generating $1m+ of EBITDA with consistent free cash flow. Owner-led businesses are very much in scope, including those where the owner still runs the day to day.
The business
Customers who must keep buying in a downturn, typically because of regulation, compliance or maintenance that can't be deferred, in markets that will still exist in twenty years. A defensible position: a leader in a niche, or a strong operator in a fragmented market. Cash generative, with modest capital needs and no heavy reliance on a single customer or supplier. A business that runs on its team, systems and reputation, not on one person.
Sectors
Sector comes second to the criteria above. In practice they lead us most often to technical and industrial services, equipment servicing, healthcare-related businesses and specialist manufacturing.
Less suited
Project or construction-linked revenue, capital-intensive manufacturing, resources exposure, and businesses whose customers or licences are tied to the owner personally.
Situation
Owners planning succession or a partial sale. We acquire a majority stake, and owners and managers who want to keep a share are welcome to. We also consider carve-outs of non-core divisions from larger companies.
Geography
Australian-headquartered, operating anywhere across the country. We're in Melbourne and travel readily.
How we're different
Permanent capital, not a fund.
A fund has to sell within a few years. We don't, so we can take the long view on your people, your customers and what the business needs.
Hold period
Indefinite.
Decision-makers
One.
Transition
Clean or staged.
Your team
Continuity first.
How we operate
What to expect from us.
Continuity
We buy businesses to build on what's already working. No scorched-earth cost cuts, no forced rebrand, no team overhaul. Change happens where it's useful, not because a playbook demands it. We invest where it strengthens the business: systems, finance and people.
Involvement
Where a strong team is in place, we back it: management runs the business, and we provide capital, governance and support. Where an owner wants to step back and no successor is ready, we can step in and run the business through the transition while we build the team that will run it next.
Decision-making
You deal with the person who decides, from first call to completion. There is no committee and no outside approval, and we give a clear yes or no quickly.
Structure
A clean exit or a handover staged over several years; a full sale, or a partial one with retained equity; deferred or staged consideration where it suits both sides. Because we aren't planning to sell, we can offer terms a fund can't.
Discretion
Selling a business is a personal decision. Every conversation is confidential from first contact. We sign NDAs early. Owners often talk to us for months before they're ready to do anything.
Patience
We're not under pressure to deploy capital, so we won't force a mediocre business to fit. When one is right, we move quickly.
Our process
How a transaction typically works.
A four-step process. Timelines are indicative — they can flex up or down.
Introduction
1–3 weeks
- Initial call to understand your business and objectives
- Signing of a mutual NDA
- Sharing of high-level financials and background information
Indicative offer
2–4 weeks
- Review of financials, customer base, contracts and structure
- One or two follow-up meetings, in person where possible
- Non-binding indicative offer with price range, structure and conditions
Confirmatory diligence
4–8 weeks
- Exclusive period to complete detailed diligence
- Coordinated, respectful process designed to minimise disruption
- Legal, financial, commercial and operational review, with our advisers
Completion
6–10 weeks
- Finalisation of transaction documents
- Joint planning for the handover and communication to team, customers and suppliers
- Completion and the start of the ownership period
Typically four to six months from a serious first conversation to completion, sometimes longer depending on complexity.
About
Yarranvale is led by Will May, its founder and principal.
Will grew up on a multigenerational rice farm in the Riverina, in southern New South Wales. He practised as a doctor before joining Bain & Company's healthcare and private equity practices, and then BGH Capital's investment team. He has also worked inside a business as Chief of Staff and Transformation Manager at Levande, helping stand up a newly carved-out company as a standalone business.
He founded Yarranvale in 2025 to be a permanent owner for the kind of Australian businesses he had spent his career studying but rarely saw owned patiently.
Get in touch
Start a conversation.
For owners considering a sale, advisers with opportunities to share, or experienced operators who would like to run a business with us. Every conversation is confidential.
We welcome introductions to businesses that fit our criteria, whether through a formal process or off-market. Everything shared with us is kept confidential.