X18 Acquisitions
We buy old-school businesses. Then we grow them.
Established manufacturing, processing, wholesale and industrial businesses with a real asset, good staff and a weak sales engine. We bring the customers. The owner stays on and gets paid for the handover.
For brokers, accountants and advisers with an owner in mind. Australia-wide, Victoria preferred.
The mandate in four numbers
$2M–$20M
annual revenue, five or more years trading
2 days
to a straight answer on every file you send
12–24 mo
earn-out and paid transition on every deal
60–90 days
from indicative offer to settlement
What we buy
Good product, real asset, not enough sales effort
The businesses we want are the ones a buyer with a spreadsheet walks past: twenty years old, run on phone calls and instinct, with a plant or a line that would take years to replicate and a customer base that has never been worked. Bringing in customers is what we do. We are buying businesses that already know how to deliver.
- Must-haves
- Old-school manufacturing, processing, wholesale or industrial services
- Owns a real asset: a plant, a production line, specialist machinery, tooling or an accreditation
- Run by the staff, not by the owner's personal craft, and those skills can be hired
- More than a handful of active customers in the last year, none above 30% of revenue
- Room to take on more customers without a new factory or a hiring wave
- An owner who will stay 12 to 24 months on an earn-out while we grow it
- We pass on
- Hospitality, retail, franchises, one-truck operations
- Trades or services that depend on a licence the owner holds personally
- Two consecutive years of declining revenue or margin
- Financials that cannot be reconciled to tax returns
- A lease expiring inside two years with no right to assign or renew
- Owners who want to hand over the keys and be gone in 30 days
Not sure it fits? Send it anyway. A pass with the reason costs you one email and tells you what we are looking for next time.
Examples
Businesses we would buy tomorrow, and why
Six shapes we keep coming back to. Each one owns something hard to copy, runs on staff whose skills can be hired, and has more customers available than it is currently chasing. The first move is what we would do in the first ninety days.
A glass-tinting business
The asset
Tinting line, film stock, cutting tables and a trained crew
Why it fits
Every office fit-out, car dealership and home builder in the state needs it, and most tinting shops win work by word of mouth alone. The product is proven. The sales engine barely exists.
First move
Commercial accounts: builders, fit-out firms and property managers on a standing rate card, plus a quoting flow that answers in minutes instead of days.
A glass-printing business
The asset
Digital ceramic or UV glass printers, tempering access, a decade of design files
Why it fits
Splashbacks, signage, shopfronts and architectural panels all run through the same machine. The asset is expensive and rare. The owner usually sells to whoever already knows the number.
First move
Architect and designer specification program, an online quote-from-drawing tool, and reactivation of every commercial account that has gone quiet.
A sheet-metal and fabrication shop
The asset
CNC laser, turret punch, brake press and welding bays, often $2M to $4M of plant
Why it fits
Fifty-year-old fab shops quote off the owner's instinct and serve four industries without measuring which one earns. Staff are skilled tradespeople who can be hired. The plant is the moat.
First move
Quoting keyed to material, cut metres and machine rate so any estimator quotes to standard, then job costing that shows quoted-versus-actual margin per sector.
A private-label beverage co-packer
The asset
Automated bottling line, certifications, pallet storage, a team of 20
Why it fits
Plants like this often run at half capacity in the off-season. The line, the compliance and the people are already paid for, so every new contract drops almost fully to profit.
First move
An outbound program aimed at brand owners and retail private-label buyers, with a self-serve enquiry path that prices a run from volume and format.
A packaging and consumables wholesaler
The asset
Warehouse, stock, delivery runs and a loyal book of foodservice customers
Why it fits
Thirty years of Monday-to-Friday reorders. Customers phone in, nobody prompts them, and nobody knows which accounts are served below cost.
First move
Per-customer margin visibility and repricing at renewal, then an ordering portal with reorder prompts so baskets grow without adding a sales rep.
An industrial sharpening and tooling supplier
The asset
Precision grinding equipment, an exclusive dealer agreement, 25 years of customer tooling records
Why it fits
Every blade in every sawmill and abattoir dulls on a predictable cycle. Whoever owns the reminder owns the reorder. Today the phone rings when it rings.
First move
A customer tooling register with automatic service prompts, and national e-commerce for blades and consumables that already ship fine.
Modelled on businesses that have been on the Australian market in the last year. Not current listings, not client engagements.
How we buy
Four steps, each with a date on it
01
Send us the file
Any stage
A teaser, an IM, or three lines in an email. Pre-listing, listed, or stale on the market for a year. We sign your NDA the same day.
02
A straight answer
2 business days
Pursue, questions, or a pass with the reason. Every file gets an answer, including the ones we don't take, so you always know where you stand.
03
Indicative offer
10 business days
Once we have three years of financials, you get a written indicative offer with the structure spelled out: price, earn-out, transition role, timing.
04
Settle and grow
60 to 90 days
Diligence runs to a plan, not a fishing trip. No retrading at the table. The owner stays on for the earn-out while we bring in customers and lift the numbers.
How we structure
The owner stays, and gets paid for it
We are not buying a business to strip it. We are buying it to grow it, and the person who built it is the best guide we will ever get. So every deal is built around a handover that works for a retiring owner.
100% or majority
Full purchase, or a majority stake with the owner keeping a slice and exiting with us later at a bigger number.
Earn-out, 12 to 24 months
Part of the price is paid over the transition against retained revenue or earnings. The owner is paid for staying, not penalised.
A paid transition role
The owner or key manager keeps a defined role and salary through the earn-out. Customers see continuity, not a changing of the guard.
Flexible on the rest
Vendor finance welcome. Asset or share sale. Freehold leased back or bought separately. Stock at valuation.
Who you'll deal with
One founder. One phone number. No committee.
I'm Leeor Meirovitz, a Melbourne founder. We operate our own businesses and we have spent years inside other people's: bringing back lost customers, repricing catalogues, putting systems where the spreadsheets were. Buying is the natural next step. You deal with me directly, from the first email to settlement.
For brokers
A buyer you can actually match against.
Register us on your buyer list with this page as the brief. Send the industrial files, the retiring-owner files, and the ones that have sat on the market at a number the buyers rejected.
A written mandate, not a vague buyer
You know exactly what we buy, what we pass on, and how we structure. Match against it instead of guessing.
Fast answers on every file
Two business days, every time, including a reason when it's a pass. We do not sit on files and we do not waste your time.
Serious about the close
Proof of capacity on request, structure agreed early, diligence run to a timetable. Your commission lands on a completed deal.
Accountants and advisers
You see it two years before anyone else
You know which clients are past sixty, tired, and have nobody to hand the business to. For them this is a quiet, confidential conversation with a buyer who wants them to stay on and get paid for the handover. No listing, no fees, no obligation. If the client would rather keep the business for now, we can just as easily help make it worth more first.
Questions
What brokers ask us first
Are you a genuine buyer, and can you show capacity?
Yes. X18 operates its own businesses and is buying more. We show proof of capacity to brokers on request, once we have seen a file that fits the mandate and signed the NDA.
What structure do you use?
Usually 100% of the business, or a majority with the owner keeping a stake and exiting alongside us later at a bigger number. Every deal carries an earn-out or deferred consideration over 12 to 24 months, with the owner or key manager in a paid transition role for that period. Vendor finance is welcome. Asset or share sale, either. Freehold can be leased back or bought separately.
Why do you insist on the earn-out and transition?
Because that window is where we do the work. We use the first one to two years to bring in customers, fix pricing and put systems in, while the person who built the business is still in the building. Owners who want a gradual, well-paid exit suit us best. Owners who want to disappear in 30 days do not.
What if the business is a good fit but the price is too high for you?
Then there is a second way to work together. Before it lists, we can go into the business for a few months and lift the numbers so it sells for more, paid only out of the uplift at settlement. Your commission lands on the bigger number. That model is described at x18global.com/exit.
Do you buy listed businesses or only off-market ones?
Both. Listings that have been on the market for a while at a number the market rejected are often exactly our shape: good business, weak sales engine, owner ready to go. Send us the stale ones too.
Which regions?
Australia-wide. Victoria is preferred for owner-operated businesses because we are hands-on in the first six months. Businesses that already run under management can be anywhere in Australia.
Yes. X18 operates its own businesses and is buying more. We show proof of capacity to brokers on request, once we have seen a file that fits the mandate and signed the NDA.
Got one in mind?
Three lines in an email is enough to start. You will have an answer within two business days.
X18 Global acquires businesses as a principal for its own account. We are not business brokers, licensed estate agents, or financial advisers, and we do not arrange, negotiate or effect the sale of any business on behalf of others. Examples on this page are illustrative profiles, not current listings or client results. Any offer is subject to due diligence and contract.