Growth through acquisition - Horticultural Services
Overview
Founded in 1991, Intelife is a Perth-based not-for-profit (NFP) organisation providing disability support services. The organisation’s core purpose is to enhance the lives of people with disability through support services and skills training.
The organisation anticipated significant disruption to its funding model as the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was rolled-out across Western Australia.
Intelife engaged Octavian to design and execute an acquisition strategy to broaden their commercial services and diversify revenue away from a dependancy on NDIS funding.
Situation
Source: The West Australian
“WA disability services providers must diversify to survive”
The Intelife board and management recognised the need to generate margin through the deployment of commercial services to subsidise the disability support services.
“We also set out to find a business, unrelated to NDIS that we could acquire to provide a constant cashflow to subsidise any shortfalls resulting from the NDIS rollout..”
- Steve Edgar, CEO Intelife.
Solution
Strategy
Extensive engagement with the board and management ensured we had a deep understanding of the organisations broader strategic goals.
Acquisition Framework
Working closely with the Intelife Board and senior management, we developed a documented acquisition framework for identifying and evaluating acquisition opportunities.
Deal Management
We implemented a multi-phased market engagement strategy, liaising directly with business owners to elicit premium off-market opportunities.
Intelife operates a labour services business model, with extensive experience managing a large workforce of full-time, part-time and casual employees. This core competency formed the central pillar of the acquisition strategy. As such, the focus was on labour-orientated service businesses, operated under management with stable recurring revenues.
Target Industry Segments
Facilities Management
Environmental Rehabilitation
Mining Services
Aged Care Services
Professional Services
Registered Training Organisations
Security and Guard Patrol
Labour Hire
Outcome
Intelife diversifies with Westland buy
businessnews.com.au
In July 2020, Intelife successfully acquired Westland Works, a horticultural and rail safe services provider.
Westland Works provides brush-cutting, weed control, tree lopping and general horticultural grounds maintenance services to a variety of blue-chip clients across Western Australia. Intelife, offers similar services via its Australian Disability Enterprise (ADE) and the acquisition will enhance its service offering and provide increased cashflow to invest in the provision of its disability services.
“… [This] acquisition will ensure we can sustainably continue to invest in disability services and continue to support West Australians into the future. The approach we have taken to overcome the turbulence of NDIS and associated funding uncertainty is an approach other for purpose organisations will have to follow.”