About us
A holding company built like a tree, not a trade.
Ironbark Holdings buys and builds Australian founder-owned businesses. We are named after a tree that grows slowly, survives fire, and stands for a century. That is the timeframe we underwrite on.
What we do
We acquire majority stakes in profitable, established Australian businesses whose owners are ready to step back. Healthcare, education, manufacturing and repairs, industrial services, technology and sport — the unglamorous companies that keep the country running.
After the acquisition a member of the Ironbark team is wholly dedicated to the business, we keep the team and the name, and reinvest profits into people, systems and capacity. There is no exit event to prepare for, so the only way we make money is by making the business genuinely better.
Every company we own operates a company option plan, so the people doing the work share in the value they create.
Holding period
Forever
Focus
Australian founder-owned businesses
Revenue range
$5m – $50m
Employee ownership
Every company, every employee
Why we exist
Tens of thousands of excellent Australian businesses are owned by founders approaching retirement. Most of their options are bad: close the doors, sell to a competitor who guts the team, or sell to a private equity fund that flips the business in five years with someone else's debt.
Ironbark is the fourth option. Permanent ownership, local decision-making, and profits reinvested in Australian teams and communities rather than extracted offshore.
Why not PE