🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Efex’s valuation multiple remains opaque without earnings quality metrics

• Deal pricing puts Efex at $100 million to $200 million against FY2024 turnover (revenue) near $109 million. That implies a revenue multiple of about 0.9x to 1.8x.
• Needed profitability inputs include Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA). Also EBITDA margin plus recurring revenue percentage.
• Efex sells managed print (outsourced printer/copier fleet management), cybersecurity, and cloud communications (internet-based voice and collaboration) 1. No recurring revenue mix is disclosed, so investors cannot separate services from hardware resale.
• The wide valuation spread may stem from confidential earnouts (contingent payments based on future results) or integration risk after seven bolt-on deals since 2021 2.

Australian Managed Service Provider (MSP) founders can court Evergreen and other buyers

• Evergreen Services Group, a US MSP investment platform, had about 10 Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) acquisitions by April 2025 3. Targets include MSPs near $5 million revenue. They also sit above $800,000 Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA). Buyers want at least 50% recurring revenue.
• Evergreen recently hired Zaun Bhana, an industry executive, as director of MSP mergers and acquisitions (M&A) for ANZ 3. It also marked its 100th global MSP acquisition with Brisbane-based REDD (an MSP) 4.
• MSPs that use operational frameworks like the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) and keep balanced customer concentration draw stronger buyer interest 3.
• Advent Partners has entered with a platform deal, which adds Private Equity (PE) capital to Australian MSP rollups.