Congratulations to Alistair Hood and his fellow shareholders on the successful sale of their business Ashton Manufacturing to Reilly Best. Ashtons are the leading casket manufacturer in Australia.
When I wrote our M&A Outlook in the first quarter, I argued that the deal market remained resilient despite the geopolitical noise, and that the mid-market would continue to be where the real action was in 2026. Halfway through the year, the evidence is stacking up on both fronts.
I started my first business in 1987: a pizza home delivery chain in the UK, back when the concept was still a novelty. By 1990, we had grown to 84 outlets and captured 15% market share. Two years later, at just 28 years old, I sold the business to the market leader, Perfect Pizza.
Australia’s IT Managed Services sector is a significant and fast-growing part of the business landscape. According to IMARC Group, the Australian managed services market reached approximately AUD $8.5 billion in 2024 and is forecast to grow to around AUD $15.9 billion by 2033 .
Three weeks ago, in Omaha, Nebraska, something quite extraordinary happened. For the first time in decades, Warren Buffett — the most celebrated investor of our era — sat in the arena as a spectator while someone else ran the show.
The Peter Warren–Wakeling transaction is a textbook example of a well-structured deal caught in the slow lane — not by market conditions, but by the machinery of government approval.