Selling your business
375,331 Australian businesses closed last year. Most were never for sale.
We buy established businesses directly from their owners. No listing, no broker, no commission, and no twelve months of waiting to find out whether anyone will turn up.
The problem
Most good businesses are closed, not sold
375,331
Australian businesses exited in 2025–26
13.8%
Exit rate against 2.81 million active businesses
Low tens of thousands
Businesses listed for sale at any time on Australia’s largest marketplace
In the 2025–26 financial year, 375,331 Australian businesses exited — an exit rate of 13.8% against 2.81 million actively trading businesses. Only a small fraction of those are ever brought to market at all. At any given time, Australia’s largest business-for-sale marketplace carries listings in the low tens of thousands.
ABS, Counts of Australian Businesses, July 2022 – June 2026, released Aug 2026. Listing volumes: Bsale market reports, 2025–26.
The reason is not that the businesses are bad
It is that the buyer cannot get the money
- —Australia has no government-backed small business acquisition loan scheme.
- —Banks rarely lend more than 50–70% against goodwill, and want a house as security before they lend at all.
- —The standard funding stack is 20–40% buyer cash, 40–60% bank debt, and 10–20% left with the seller anyway.
- —Which means a willing buyer with a good business in front of them often simply cannot complete.
Meanwhile roughly half of Australian business owners are over 50, more than 500,000 are over 60, and around a quarter have a documented plan for what happens when they stop.
Australian commercial finance broker guidance, 2026. RBA Lenders’ Interest Rates, July 2026: average small business lending rate 7.44% on new loans.
Why funding fails
A willing buyer, a good business, and a bank that will not lend enough. That is the gap we are designed to close.
What we do differently
We are the buyer, not an agent looking for one
We pay a premium for terms
If you are willing to be paid over several years rather than all at once, we will pay more than a cash buyer would — often meaningfully more. That is a real trade, not a sales line: the deferred payment is what lets us pay the higher number, and it is secured, documented and interest-bearing in your favour.
You pay no commission
A business broker typically charges 8–10% on a sale between $250,000 and $1m, plus an upfront marketing fee that is not refunded if the business does not sell. On a $700,000 business that is $56,000–$70,000 out of your proceeds. We are the buyer. There is no commission, because there is no agent.
Your business is not advertised
No listing, no photographs, no enquiries from your competitors, and nothing for your staff or your customers to find. One conversation, under confidentiality, with the person who is actually buying it.
We complete
The most common way a business sale fails in Australia is that the buyer cannot arrange finance after months of due diligence. Our funding does not depend on a bank saying yes.
Your business keeps trading
We do not strip businesses or merge them into something else. We install a manager, keep the staff, and sell shares to a small group of owners who want it to keep running. If it matters to you that the name stays on the door and your people keep their jobs, that is what we are set up to do.
What we look for
Not every business, and we will tell you quickly
| What makes a business a fit | What we look for |
|---|---|
| Profits | From $200,000 |
| Revenue | From $1m |
| Trading history | At least 5 years, with accounts to match |
| Sector | Trades, maintenance, B2B services, contracted or repeat work |
| Team | A supervisor or 2IC already in place |
| Customers | No single customer much above 20% of revenue |
If it is not a fit we will say so in the first conversation rather than tie you up. And if we know a buyer or a broker who is a better fit for your business, we will tell you that too.
How it works
Six weeks from first call to signed contract
A conversation
Twenty minutes on the phone. What the business does, what it earns, what you want to happen to it. Nothing in writing yet.
Confidentiality, then numbers
We sign a confidentiality agreement and you send three years of financials. We do not talk to your staff, your customers or your suppliers.
An indicative offer, in writing, within a week
Price, structure, deposit, payment schedule, security. You take it to your accountant and your solicitor.
Due diligence
Three to four weeks. We do not renegotiate on price afterwards unless something material was not what we were told.
Contract and handover
You stay for an agreed handover period, paid, and then you are done.
Being straight with you
About the deferred payment
Being paid over several years means carrying some risk that you would not carry in a cash sale. We reduce it as far as it can be reduced — a registered security interest over the business, a mortgage over the shares in the buying company, and personal guarantees — and you should have your own solicitor review every part of it.
If certainty of payment matters more to you than price, a cash sale at a lower number may genuinely be the better deal, and we will say so.
Every offer is documented, secured and reviewed by your own advisers.
Tell us about your business
No obligation, no listing
Nothing goes any further than the person who reads it. We reply to every enquiry within two business days.
Important information
The information on this website is general information only. It has been prepared without taking into account any person’s objectives, financial situation or needs. Nothing on it is personal financial advice, legal advice, taxation advice or accounting advice, and nothing on it is a recommendation that any person acquire, dispose of or invest in any particular business, security or financial product. Nothing here is an offer.
Horvat Capital sells shares in companies it owns, as principal and on its own behalf. It is not your adviser, does not act for you, and does not provide financial product advice. Any opportunity is made available individually, is subject to its own terms, structure, due diligence, eligibility requirements and legal documentation, and is not offered to the public. Registering an interest is not an application and creates no entitlement.
Risk. Private business investment involves significant risk. Businesses can fail, holdings are illiquid, valuations are uncertain, and an investor may lose some or all of the money invested. There is no guarantee of performance, capital preservation, income or return. Past performance does not indicate future performance.
Figures. Every figure on this site is sourced where it appears and was verified at the date shown. Any reference to a business, price, valuation, growth opportunity or return is illustrative only unless expressly stated otherwise and supported by the relevant transaction documents. Prospective investors should obtain independent legal, financial, taxation and accounting advice before proceeding.
Business owners. An enquiry about selling your business is not an offer by us to buy it. Any acquisition is subject to due diligence, negotiation, satisfactory documentation, funding, legal and regulatory requirements and final approval. We may decline any opportunity.
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