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Protein Processing Mergers and Acquisitions Due Diligence
Case Study | Engagement completed November 2025
At a Glance: Founder-led Australian protein processing group, unlisted public company | Strategy: buy-and-build roll-up ahead of a listing | Acquisition pipeline: six targets assessed across processing, value-add, wholesale and export | First site: 285-item asset audit ahead of a contract of sale in September 2024 | Diligence streams: commercial, financial, operational, legal and environmental | Route to market: 366 foodservice distributors mapped nationally | Engagement: April 2024 to November 2025
The Situation
The group's strategy was growth by acquisition: buy established meat processors across primary processing, value-add, wholesale and export, integrate them onto one platform, and take the combined business to a public listing.
In a roll-up, the price paid for each business is the return. Overpay for one asset and the whole thesis is diluted. Misread a site's condition, licensing or customer contracts and the integration plan fails on day one. Every target needed a disciplined answer to three questions before capital was committed: what is it really earning, what is it really worth to the group, and what will it take to integrate.
The Brief
Fixer48's founder was embedded with the group to lead the acquisition assessment and build the platform the acquired businesses would join:
- Assess every target in the pipeline for strategic fit, price and value
- Run commercial and operational due diligence on the first site and the priority targets
- Build the valuation, approval and sequencing framework the board would use to commit capital
- Prepare the commercial, regulatory and governance platform for integration
The Approach
April to September 2024 - The First Site
The first target was a purpose-built processing facility. Fixer48 audited it room by room, producing a 285-item asset register across 26 areas, with the production rooms and chillers recorded separately, and mapped the six-step accreditation pathway the site needed to trade domestically and export, from state food safety licensing and HACCP through to grading and export licensing. In parallel, the commercial case was built: a divisional business plan with a profile of the four national processors the group would compete against, a map of 366 foodservice distributors across every state and territory, and a benchmark of 356 product lines across five competitor ranges. The site progressed to a contract of sale in September 2024.
2024 to 2025 - The Acquisition Pipeline
Fixer48 assessed a pipeline of six target businesses across the protein and food supply chain, from primary processing to value-add, wholesale and export, setting the strategic fit, valuation logic and priority for each. Commercial and operational due diligence covered EBITDA normalisation, margin analysis, capacity and labour modelling, and integration risk, with site audits testing throughput, operating constraints, labour, compliance, customer mix and export capability. Alongside the outright acquisition strategy, Fixer48 designed a joint venture alternative: a 50/50 partnership under which processor owners stayed in the business through a 24-month earnings uplift program, with entry secured by a deposit and a defined exit for partners at listing. It was taken to the group's advisers for review, where it was well received. The output was a board-level framework for valuing, approving and sequencing acquisitions, so capital would go to the right business, at the right price, in the right order. A four-phase listing pathway was documented alongside it. Fixer48 also led engagement with an international senior debt arranger, taking the acquisition program to a term sheet for a senior secured acquisition facility, conditional on cornerstone equity.
May to November 2025 - Diligence Discipline and Deal Governance
From May 2025 the engagement moved into executive leadership. Fixer48 established a weekly board advisory cadence and built a structured due diligence plan for the two priority targets across legal, financial and operational streams. Diligence was extended as the targets came into focus: environmental contamination and licensing risk at the processing sites, contingent liabilities, and whether key customer agreements would survive a change of control. Prior due diligence reports were reviewed to identify gaps, and competitive risk was assessed where a national retailer could pursue the same assets.
Challenge and Outcome
Key Challenges Addressed
How do you know what a processor is really earning before you agree a price?
How do you rank six targets so capital goes to the right acquisition first?
How do you stop a roll-up overpaying for scale?
How do you make sure licences and customer contracts survive a change of control?
What Fixer48 Delivered
An asset-by-asset audit and accreditation pathway for the first site, completed ahead of its contract of sale.
A six-target acquisition pipeline assessed for strategic fit, valuation logic and priority, with commercial and operational due diligence covering EBITDA normalisation, margin, capacity, labour and integration risk.
A board-level valuation, approval and sequencing framework, backed by a diligence plan covering legal, financial, operational and environmental risk, contingent liabilities and change of control.
Foundations for Growth
A roll-up creates value when each acquisition is bought on normalised earnings, at a price the group can defend, and integrated onto a platform that is ready for it. That is what this work put in place. The valuation and sequencing framework gives the board the same test for every target. The diligence plan gives every acquisition the same legal, financial, operational and environmental scrutiny. The distributor map, range benchmark and accreditation pathway mean an acquired site plugs into a defined route to market and a licensing sequence from the day it changes hands.
What This Engagement Demonstrates
In a buy-and-build strategy, discipline on price is the strategy. From April 2024 to November 2025, Fixer48 led the acquisition assessment from the first site through a six-target pipeline, built the framework to value, approve and sequence each deal, and prepared the commercial and governance platform the acquired businesses would join.
Core capabilities: M&A pipeline origination and assessment, commercial and operational due diligence, EBITDA normalisation and valuation logic, site audits, acquisition sequencing and board approval frameworks, joint venture structuring, integration risk assessment, regulatory and accreditation planning, route-to-market mapping, and governance design.
To discuss how Fixer48 can help your business, contact Ashley Kent. ashley@fixer48.com.au fixer48.com.au
