Roy Levy on 30 Years of Matching Buyers With the Right Business
Roy Levy on 30 Years of Matching Buyers With the Right Business
Roy Levy has spent more than 30 years in business broking, but one of his most memorable deals began with a simple introduction: “Jeff, meet Andy. Andy, meet Jeff.”
The two men had separately approached Roy about buying an engineering business. One was an engineer with the skills to run it but lacked the money; the other had the money but lacked the technical background. Roy put them together, left them to talk, and watched them buy the business.
Twenty-five years later, they called him back. They were ready to retire. By then, they had quadrupled the business, bought their own premises, and were ready for Roy to sell it for them.
For Roy, it remains an excellent example of what a business broker can do when the right people and the right opportunity meet.
From Accounting To Broking
Roy began his career as an accountant and worked in management consulting and management training in South Africa. In 1985, he was part of a group that became the first management consulting business to list on the South African Stock Exchange.
After emigrating to Australia, he re-qualified as a Chartered Accountant and initially planned to buy his own business. Instead, a meeting with a business broker changed the direction of his career.
The broker looked at Roy’s background and suggested he join the business. Roy saw it as a way to familiarise himself with doing business in Australia. “It’s the same sports, same seasons, same cars (drive on the left) and similar language,” Roy commented. “But the way business is conducted is very different.”
After a year, he obtained his own licence. When the broker he worked for decided to franchise the business, Roy and another broker chose a different path, setting up independently but sharing premises to keep early costs down.
Within 12 months, they decided to become business partners. Their agreement was deliberately simple: a handshake and an understanding that trust came first. “If there’s ever an argument about money, I’m out of here,” Roy recalled telling his future partner.
They never had that argument, and his partner retired two years ago.
Building On Numbers
Roy’s accounting background remains central to how he approaches broking at Core Business Brokers. For him, understanding the numbers is not simply a technical advantage; it is one of the first things a buyer needs before moving deeper into a transaction.
“If the numbers sort of make sense, they’ll go to the second leg,” he explained.
That financial grounding can also help solve practical problems during a sale. Roy recalled the engineering business where the potential buyer needed vendor financing because banks were reluctant to lend against goodwill.
Roy went back to the owners. “I suggested they obtain an independent valuation of the equipment. They spent $5,000 on the assessment, which put the machinery's value at $1.4 million,” he continued.
With that valuation, the bank approved the buyer’s finance application and the transaction proceeded.
Roy believes details can make a significant difference on larger transactions, particularly when the broker understands both the financial information and the practical realities of selling a business.
Honesty Has Value
For Roy, technical knowledge is only part of the job. He places equal importance on honesty, particularly when a vendor’s expectations do not match what the market is likely to pay.
He recalled a recent example where he believed a business was worth between $1.1 million and $1.2 million. The owners wanted to market it at $1.6 million. Roy warned them it was a mistake, but agreed to test the market. The result eventually supported his original assessment.
He believes it is easy to overquote a business’s value simply to secure the listing. Roy takes a different approach, arguing that a broker has to be prepared to say no when expectations are unrealistic.
“I say to them, ‘I don’t believe that you’re going to get that in the market for these reasons. If that’s your minimum expectation, I can’t legally or morally sign our agency agreement as I’ve got to insert my opinion of the realistic price range’,” he said.
Communication Keeps Deals Moving
Roy also sees communication as one of the most important disciplines in broking. His own practice is to keep vendors updated at least once a week, even if there is little progress to report.
“‘I’ve got no inquiries this week; I’m going to try this’,” can be enough,” he said. “The important thing is that the vendor knows I am working on the assignment.”
The same principle applies to buyers. Roy said his business aims to respond to every inquiry within 24 hours, even if the response is simply to explain that a fuller reply will come the following day.
Once a transaction moves towards due diligence and documentation, Roy believes the broker should remain actively involved. He prepares a terms sheet to make sure the parties agree on the commercial details before lawyers become involved.
“It’s not a legal document. It’s just an understanding of the details of what this is all about,” he explained.
Roy believes the broker remains the conductor of the process, keeping the buyer, seller, accountant and solicitor moving in the same direction.
Views of The Market
Roy’s view of the market has also changed with economic conditions. Over the past two to three years, he has generally tried to avoid retail and hospitality, although he points to specialist retail businesses as exceptions.
Golf is one example. Roy has sold two substantial golf businesses. Customers who began playing during the COVID period continued with the sport, helping specialist golf retailers maintain momentum.
More broadly, Roy sees demand for businesses that are difficult to replace with technology or artificial intelligence. Commercial contract cleaning, landscaping and swimming pool businesses are among the examples he cited, particularly where they have recurring customers.
He also sees demand for industrial, import distribution, engineering and manufacturing businesses, particularly those with EBITDA of between $500,000 and $2 million.
Financing remains a challenge, however. Roy said banks can be difficult to navigate, particularly when lending decisions are made away from the local manager. He often directs buyers towards finance brokers who understand which institutions are actively lending to particular categories of business.
Keeping Control
After decades in the industry, Roy’s approach comes back to a combination of financial understanding, honesty, communication and persistence.
He believes a broker should be firm without being rude, particularly when other professionals become involved in the final stages of a deal. A transaction can take four, five or six months to reach the solicitor, and Roy does not want the broker’s contribution to disappear during the final stretch.
“Keep control and keep the movement,” he said. That means following up with accountants, solicitors and buyers, making sure information arrives when needed, and continuing to push the transaction towards settlement.
It also means recognising that reputation matters. In an era of Google reviews and instant feedback, Roy said brokers need to be prepared to bite their tongue when necessary while still protecting the interests of their clients.
After more than three decades, his philosophy remains straightforward “understand the numbers, tell people the truth, communicate properly and stay involved until the deal is done”.
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