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The Great Aussie Bush Camp (“GABC”) engaged Nash Advisory to run a process for the sale of up to 100% of the business in April 2022.
The Great Aussie Bush Camp is the largest privately owned school camp operator in Australia and is forecast to accommodate over 63,000 school students from all regions of NSW in FY24. The business operates from two prime freehold locations including Tea Gardens in the NSW Hunter region, and Kincumber located in the Central Coast. It also has one leasehold camp located at Lake Macquarie which was opened in early 2023.
The key success driver of the business has been their exceptionally well trained, young & vibrant camp instructors who provide guidance, support and fun to the students to ensure that their experience at the camp is as enjoyable as possible. The schools attending the camps can choose from an array of camp programs tailored to be educational and action-packed, including highly enjoyable excursions and physical challenges that include abseiling, giant swings, and pioneering, among others. All sites offer 25+ activities for the schools to choose from.
The Great Aussie Bush Camp was sold to FinCap and MA Financial in November 2023.
Hear from Tom Butler on the transaction process
Outdoor Education, Leisure
In January 2009, family members Sarah & Brad Love and Simone & Brad Higgins, purchased the old Leyland Brother’s World site in Tea Gardens, which had been operating for 21 years as an outdoor education centre. The intention was to rejuvenate the well-known Great Aussie Bush Camp brand. In 2011 the business grew further with the acquisition of the Kincumber facility and the opening of the Lake Macquarie site in 2023, catapulting the business as a leading brand in the outdoor education & school camp market.
Whilst identifying the opportunity to build a national presence, the Directors of the business approached Nash Advisory with the view to finding a partner that could provide appropriate capital and resourcing requirements to help facilitate the next stage of growth.
Whilst the business' accounting, operational and financial data was sufficient for the management of the business, Nash determined that a more rigorous set of data would be required to facilitate a detailed understanding of the investment opportunity which would assist the due diligence process with corporate and institutional bidders.
Detailed analysis of the historical financial & operational data of the business. It was important to request an analyse the business’s performance by site, including the analysis of the breakup and makeup of the school/customer profile by site, requirements of maintenance and growth CapEx by site, reconciling financial management accounts to reported statutory accounts, and student numbers by site. There was also a requirement to consolidate and present these metrics clearly for the Buyer to also understand the number of growth initiatives available to the business.
We worked with the vendors to identify a number of growth initiatives that could be initiated in the future. Nash worked with the Directors to properly develop these ideas into genuine opportunities. These included expanding operating periods of each site, implementing a booking system to improve the allocation of school camp groups to camp sites (to improve overall camp utilisation), building further capacity at each site, acquiring additional sites, and replicating the business model interstate.
Many parties did not have expertise in investing in businesses where a large component of the value is backed by property. A clear workstream of Nash was to detail the advantages and potential upside that this style of investment provided.
By profiling the market and overall investment landscape for asset backed businesses, Nash was able to identify a large list of potential acquirers. Ultimately, the investor identified at the very beginning as the mostly capable and likely buyer ended up being the ultimate buyer which was incredibly pleasing for all parties.
Nash Advisory was engaged by The Great Aussie Bush Camp to conduct a divestment process. Requested information was shared and internal due diligence on the business was conducted to ensure the business was ready for sale.
Nash Advisory utilised their existing network within the leisure & tourism sectors to begin soft soundings and test market interest.
The business identified a new potential school camp location in Lake Macquarie. Nash Advisory assisted in developing the professional tender which was successfully awarded to The Great Aussie Bush Camp. Camp operations were to begin in January 2023.
Management meetings and site visits held with Interested Parties. Offer made by Interested Party, which was heavily negotiated and approved by the Sellers.
Preparation of data room and the start of Due Diligence. Key focus areas included financial & legal review & diligence, property inspections and valuations, buildings inspections & safety reports, tax reviews, and detailed operational planning among other items.
Key funding party of Buyer pulled out of the transaction. A back-up plan was formulated with the Sellers in case the Buyer could not facilitate funding. The Buyer secured additional funding partners and deal restructured to account for the growth of the business during negotiations and sourcing of funding.
Due Diligence began with new funding party with a key focus on updated forecast financials and student numbers. Updated forecasts were proven up by detailed modelling and regular trading updates.
Legal documentation drafted by Seller’s legal representation, and review of documentation including negotiation of key commercial items completed by Nash Advisory. In August the Legal documentation was signed.
Completion of the transaction.
When it comes to selling your business, Nash Advisory offers a highly detailed and extremely thorough process that produces the best possible results.
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