Advisory Partner has successfully negotiated the sale of Bulk Fuel Australia (BFA), a major fuel supplier to customers across the nation.
Advisory Partner director Brett Plant says there was strong interest with multiple offers made.
BFA directors unsuccessfully tried to sell the company seven years ago using a top-tier firm.
Brett attributes Advisory Partner’s success to its willingness to “get our hands dirty”. Brett and his team worked closely with BFA’s management team to overcome the “inevitable glitches and issues” that arise when selling a mid-level company.
The ability and willingness to get involved at the grassroots level with business owners is a point of difference with Advisory Partner.
“This is a landmark transaction for Advisory Partner and we’re proud to have been involved in achieving success for the business owners,” Brett said.
The deal was complex, given there were multiple shareholders, of whom only three were working in the business, and the sector within which BFA operates must maintain high environmental, social and governance standards.
BFA has a fleet of 56 tankers and 17 utility vehicles, plus two service vehicles based in Brisbane and Melbourne to cater for in-situ repairs and maintenance.
It is headquartered in Rocklea, Queensland, and has three depots and four truck parking assets in Queensland; two depots in New South Wales; and one depot and two truck parking assets in Victoria.
In 2024, BFA had projected annual sales of 135 million litres of fuel.
The company was founded in August 2009 by three of the directors, Gavin Pendergast, Ashley Mitchell and Mark Plunkett, who saw an opportunity in the market for a specialised on-site refuelling business on Australia’s east coast. They held a 40% share of the business with the remainder held by related parties.
BFA is one of the few on-site refuelling businesses in Australia with the experience and capability to service challenging segments of the market. It has more than 1,000 customers, including blue-chip companies like BP, QUBE, Veolia, Hutchinson Builders, Woolworths and Linfox.
The new owner, PremiAir Hire, hires industrial equipment, including diesel and electric air compressors, dryers and filtration, skid and trailer-mounted generators, lighting towers and traffic management and event management equipment.
It has 12 branches across NSW, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia. It has a large fleet of prime movers, trailers, crane trucks and tilt trays to transport equipment and operates a fuel division.
PremiAir was familiar with BFA and had a working relationship with the company, which will make merging the entities easier.
Advisory Partner was appointed in September 2023 and the deal settled on 4 April 2024, which was “reasonably quick” for a sale of that magnitude and complexity.
BFA’s long-standing customer base is across a diverse range of industries, including
power generation, civil construction and infrastructure, rail and marine, hospitals and healthcare, fleet transport, and emergency services.
It is well-positioned for growth, given high demand for diesel on-site refuelling services.
Australia relies predominantly on road tankers to deliver fuel around the nation with major infrastructure like pipelines used only to move large volumes of fuel to bulk users like airports.
BFA’s specialised refuelling tankers and utility vehicles can access sites with limited space and difficult terrain, which adds to its value for the new owner.