Merchant Place acquires Smoke Alarms Australia

In September 2017, the principals of Merchant Place Investments led a family office syndicate that acquired 100% of Smoke Alarms Australia Pty Ltd. The equity investment fell within Merchant Place’s target range of $10m- $25m.

Consistent with our ”longer hold, lower risk” investment strategy, the investor group intends to hold the business for the long term and the acquisition was completed without using leverage

SAA is Sydney-based, with a national field force. The business installs and inspects smoke alarms in residential rental properties, ensuring compliance with legislation.

There are over 11,000 house fires in Australia each year, resulting in ~2,000 fire-related injuries and 40-60 deaths. For rental landlords, failure to comply with smoke alarm legislation is a legal offence and can also lead to dismissal of insurance claims.

Smoke Alarms Australia is a B2B service provider, whose customers are primarily real estate agents with “rental rolls” of many properties. SAA services approximately 130,000 properties each year on a subscription basis