Good evening,

HMA Group, which sold $144 million worth of capital plant equipment to the likes of Glencore and Thiess last year, has sent PKF Corporate Finance out to find a buyer for the employee-owned business, which is expected to be worth north of $200 million.

A flyer, dubbed Project Hikitae, said HMA’s six divisions and a global business spanning five geographies helped achieve a circa 15 per cent compounded annual growth rate in EBITDA between June 2021 and December 2023.

Normalised earnings stood at $28 million for the year ending December 31, implying a price tag of $200 million-plus on an enterprise valuation basis. Although the flyer did not identify the business by name, several sources confirmed to Street Talk that it was HMA Group, or the Halley & Mellowes Group of Companies, which traces its history back 58 years.

Sources said HMA’s 80-odd shareholders decided to launch a typical two-part process after fielding inbound interest from trade players and strategics. The Sydney office of mid-market corporate advisory PKF has previously tended to the company on M&A approaches, and is running the deal. Non-binding bids are due by the end of this month.

Potential bidders have been told HMA’s top managers – about 11 of them – are keen to stay on with the new investors and are open to discussing a range of deal structures.

Read the full story tomorrow and more on the Street Talk page.

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