Congratulations to the shareholders of Aerospace Equipment Overhaul and Sales (AEOS) on the successful sale of their business to SK AeroSafety Group. AEOS has a 60-year history and heritage supplying the aerospace industry in Australia.  

We wish the buyer and the vendors well, confident of the strong alignment and good fit. The buyers saw great value in the AEOS business and the shareholders were able to successfully exit a business their father started all those years ago. It was great working with Ross, Glenn and Mark who were professional and patient, allowing us to secure genuine strategic interest from this particular buyer domiciled in the UK.

I’m sure Ross, Glenn and Mark are delighted to have achieved this important outcome for both themselves and the staff, who can look forward to many more years of AEOS servicing their customers.

Our team remains extremely active in the manufacturing and distribution sectors – we see many Australian niche businesses, like AEOS, where the owners are contemplating an exit. These kinds of businesses typically punch well above their weight, not just in Australia but internationally. With added capital and reach, often provided by a larger acquirer, we see a very bright future for many of these well-established IP-rich companies as their owners move towards retirement. This sometimes occurs in stages although not in this particular case.  When well matched with strategic buyers the discussions about future opportunities and synergies normally trump valuations.

We are currently seeing half of our deals completed with international strategic acquirers. In this case, SK AeroSafety was backed by a large private equity firm committed to the Aerospace and defence sectors. The buyer’s criteria was well matched with the features of AEOS – this matching is essential to securing an equitable outcome.

If you would like to know more about the opportunities in your market and how we go about securing genuine strategic intent, speak to me or one of our Partners.