Valuation & Transaction Advisory Case Studies

A business valuation is only as useful as the decisions it enables. The engagements below show how we approach valuation and transaction advisory in practice: not as an isolated number, but as a tool for sale readiness, shareholder restructuring, succession and deal structuring.

These engagements were led by Geoffrey Tulett, who heads valuation and transaction advisory work at 42 Advisory. They sit alongside the firm's core business advisory and 3-way forecasting and CPA accounting services. Client identities and commercially sensitive information have been anonymised, and values are presented in approximate bands.

Civil Contractor: Land Development and Subdivision

A founder-led civil contractor engaged us to assess its sale readiness and determine an indicative market valuation as the business considered a potential transaction. Over a three-year period, the group had grown from a small contractor into a major civil works business servicing Tier-1 residential developers, with forecast revenue of approximately $120 million and EBITDA approaching $18 million. The business operated through a multi-entity structure, separating the contracting business from its plant and equipment assets.

The challenge was that the majority of the growth story was recent, with only a partial year trading at its current size. While financial performance had accelerated rapidly, earnings remained project-based and inherently cyclical, the forward work pipeline was only partially contracted, and several key client relationships and operational functions remained concentrated within a small senior leadership group. These are all factors that sophisticated buyers typically discount during due diligence. In addition, the operating business needed to be separated from the plant entity so that maintainable earnings reflected commercial market lease rates rather than internal charging arrangements.

We completed a future maintainable earnings valuation using a three-year normalised EBITDA, adjusted for commercial plant leasing and one-off items, before benchmarking the business against comparable Australian civil contractor transactions. Rather than presenting an isolated valuation, we modelled the deal structure we believed the market would realistically support, including an upfront payment, earn-out component and equity rollover, together with the commercial factors likely to influence negotiations.

The engagement concluded with an enterprise value range of approximately $35 million to $47 million, dependent on key swing terms, supported by a practical 12-month sale readiness roadmap to mitigate factors that discount the valuation. By strengthening contracted pipeline visibility, reducing key-person reliance and documenting succession within the leadership team, the owners were able to begin work on the factors needed to position the business at the upper end of the valuation range. We see similar valuation dynamics across our work with builders and construction businesses.

Behavioural Health Practice

An established Australian behavioural health provider engaged us to determine the market value of its business following several years of strong growth. While the business had built a scalable model with recurring demand and strong referral relationships, a significant proportion of revenue was concentrated in one segment of clients and a relatively small number of practitioners.

Rather than relying solely on headline earnings, we assessed the business from the perspective of an external acquirer, incorporating the commercial impact of regulatory exposure, practitioner concentration and customer concentration into the valuation. We also identified the operational initiatives that would support a higher valuation multiple over time.

The result was a defensible valuation of approximately $25.2 million for internal share sales, together with a clear roadmap for increasing shareholder value over time.

Online Counselling Business

The shareholders of an online counselling business required an independent valuation as part of an internal equity restructure and the introduction of new shareholders.

Our review identified that almost half of the company's revenue was generated from a single corporate relationship that was unlikely to continue. While the business itself was performing well, this concentration materially constrained its market value.

Beyond completing the valuation, we worked with the owners to restructure the relationship into an acquisition opportunity, mitigating the key relationship risk by acquisition while increasing value and scale at the same time. This increased practitioner capacity by approximately two times, diversified revenue sources and significantly reduced the concentration risk that was suppressing value.

The engagement not only established a defensible market valuation of approximately $20.5 million initially, but also identified the pathway to improving value to $30 million plus within 12 months.

NDIS Healthcare Services Provider

An NDIS healthcare provider sought an independent market valuation after several years of consistent growth.

The engagement required balancing the stability of contracted, government-supported demand against the relatively short operating history of the business. We assessed the quality and durability of earnings, benchmarked market transactions and determined an earnings multiple appropriate for the sector.

The completed valuation concluded an equity value of approximately $10.5 million, providing shareholders with an independent assessment grounded in market evidence.

Marine Manufacturer

A long-established family-owned manufacturer of commercial and tourism vessels sought advice on the sale of the business and the optimal transaction structure.

The business presented an unusual challenge, holding approximately $9 million in surplus cash while the underlying trading business was worth approximately $8 million. Combined with a complex multi-family ownership structure, a conventional sale would have created unnecessary tax and commercial inefficiencies.

We modelled multiple transaction structures, analysed the tax consequences for each shareholder group and designed several practical alternatives for implementation. This is where valuation work intersects with the tax and accounting side of a transaction: the structure often matters as much as the price.

The preferred structure enabled the transaction to proceed progressively, providing additional time to manage ownership and distribution complexities while improving the overall commercial outcome.

Fitness and Gym Group

An established subscription-based fitness business engaged us to determine its market value for the purpose of bringing in key management as shareholders.

The key objective was to identify maintainable earnings from a recurring membership model and determine an appropriate market multiple that reflected the predictability of subscription revenue. Recurring revenue models raise their own accounting questions, which we have covered in our guide to revenue recognition for subscription businesses.

Following analysis of the operating model, financial performance and comparable transactions, we concluded an equity value of approximately $3.8 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis.

Construction Company

An Australian construction business required an indicative valuation to support shareholder planning.

The business generated revenue through project-based contracts while also owning a significant plant and equipment fleet. As a result, value could not be determined from earnings alone and required consideration of both operating performance and the underlying asset base.

Using a limited-scope valuation methodology, we assessed enterprise value before adjusting for net assets and debt to determine an indicative equity value range of between $1.05 million and $1.36 million.

Managed IT and Cybersecurity Provider

A founder-led managed IT and cybersecurity business engaged us during pre-acquisition planning and an internal corporate restructure.

Although revenue was growing strongly, the business remained early in its development with a relatively short trading history and some customer concentration. Rather than relying on highly sensitive discounted cash flow modelling, we benchmarked the business against comparable market transactions and future maintainable earnings.

The resulting valuation of approximately $0.6 million provided a commercially defensible basis for both acquisition discussions and the proposed corporate restructure.

What These Engagements Have in Common

Across every engagement, three themes recur. First, concentration risk (whether in clients, practitioners or key people) is the most common factor suppressing value, and it is usually addressable with time. Second, a valuation is most useful when paired with a practical roadmap: knowing the number matters less than knowing what moves it. Third, transaction structure can be worth as much as the headline price, particularly where surplus cash, multi-entity groups or family ownership are involved.

If you operate a growing business and want to understand its value, or prepare it for a sale, restructure or management buy-in, our accounting and advisory teams work together so the valuation, tax and compliance pieces are handled as one engagement. Planning the timeline around key ATO dates is part of that process.