HLB Mann Judd Client Story
“Simon’s Story”
Growing up as a young boy, cars
were always his passion and
having a father that owned a motor
vehicle dealership certainly helped.
Simon and his brother Adam began
“working” with cars at their father’s
dealership while still completing their
education. Both sons then joined
the business after completing their
studies and expanding the business
to take on more brands and employ
more staff. As time went on, Simon
met the love of his life, Joan and
together they had 3 lovely daughters
(Angela, Sharon and Anna). As it
often the case when two generations
work together, there was often
disagreements between father
and sons about which direction the
business was heading in and this
ultimately led to significant family
conflict between Simon and Adam
after the death of their father.
After not being able to resolve many
of their differences, Simon and
Adam decided that it would be best
for all parties to go their separate
ways and divide up the business. As
this was going to be a complicated
process, Simon decided to engage
the services of a professional team
that would be able to assist and
contacted HLB Mann Judd. Through
months of negotiation and a very
stressful time for the families, HLB
Mann Judd were able to work with
Simon, Joan and their family to
broker a deal that resulted in Simon
continuing to operate the motor
vehicle business.
As time went on, Simon was a bit
concerned about the succession
plan for the business as his three
daughters were not seen as the ideal
plan to take over a motor vehicle
business, especially when none
of them had shown any interest.
Joan had also not worked in the
business very much and other than
providing ongoing support to her
husband didn’t take much interest
in the financial affairs of the family
either, as her children were definitely
her priority. Once their daughters
had all completed their schooling,
they decided to “fly from the nest”
and go their separate ways. Each
of the daughters started to make
their own careers and move on with
their lives, while still remaining very
close to their parents on a family
level. Simon’s dream of being able
to pass on his beloved motor vehicle
business was looking like it was not
going to happen at all and selling up
was going to be the only option.
Meanwhile, Angela, who lived
interstate, had met and married a
real estate agent and they were
thinking of starting a family. At the
news of her father looking to sell
the business, Angela spoke about
it with her husband, Joseph, and
decided that the time was right to
relocate back “home” so that they
could have the support of the family
to raise their children and consider
their future of moving in to the family
business. So Joseph gave up his
job and the family relocated. Simon
was so excited to have some of
his family back home and Joseph
was showing a keen interest in the
motor vehicle business. Throughout
this time, Simon continued to work
with the team at HLB Mann Judd
and relied on them to provide sound
financial advice about his business
and personal wealth position.
Simon took Joseph under his wing
and started to show him how the
motor vehicle business operated and
introduced him to some of Simon’s
key business partners, including the
team at HLB Mann Judd. Angela also
took a keen interest in the business,
especially the human resources and
marketing areas. Over the next few
years, Angela and Joseph had four
children (three boys and a girl) and
Joseph continued to develop his
skills with the guidance of his
father-in-law. The business also
underwent some rapid expansion,
which included taking on new vehicle
brand manufacturer and making the
service department team one of the
most respected in the industry.
Due to the success of the family
business for over 50 years, Simon
and Joan had accumulated wealth
outside of the business, which
included share investments and
also commercial and residential
property. HLB Mann Judd’s family
business specialist had always
explained to Simon and Joan the
need to separate the business and
personal assets with the view that
one day the business would have to
be transitioned to a future generation
or sold. Most of their family wealth,
however, was in their business.
As the time was approaching for
Simon to consider the life for him
and Joan after the business, Simon
hit a bit of a dilemma. He had three
daughters and only one of them
(together with her husband) had
shown any interest in the successful
family business and it was only
Angela and Joseph who would be
the ones who had the potential to
keep the family business operating
into the 3rd generation. Simon sat
Great people, great results
down with the team at HLB Mann
Judd and worked out a strategy that
would enable all of the family to
benefit from the transition/sale of the
business.
Having four young children and a
large house mortgage, the ability for
Angela and Joseph to seek funding
from a financial institution to buy
the business was not an option.
However, Simon and Joan providing
a vendor finance option that was
a way the family believed the best
result for all concerned could be
achieved. HLB Mann Judd’s family
business expertise then led the
family through getting the business
valued, agreeing on a fair market
price for the business and repayment
terms for the vendor finance that
kept all family members happy. Just
to complicate things further, Simon
and Joan also owned three of the
properties where the motor vehicle
dealerships were operating from, so
HLB Mann Judd were also able to
get experts to provide valuations of
current market rentals and arrange for
lease agreements to be put in place.
All parties felt that this was a very fair
outcome as Angela and Joseph were
effectively buying the business from
Angela’s parents at a value that the
family group, being Simon, Joan and
their daughters had all agreed was
fair. There was never a stage where
the other siblings felt like they were
going to miss out on some of the
family wealth.
The business continues to be run
very successfully by Angela and
Joseph and they are very proud to
continue the family tradition. The
team at HLB Mann Judd continue
to provide ongoing services to the
business and have recently worked
with the family on an expansion plan
that will involve the development
of a brand new site to be the home
of two new showrooms and a full
service centre.
Due to health reasons, Simon can no
longer manage the wealth portfolio
that he and Joan have created. After
working with HLB Mann Judd for
This 3rd generation family-owned
business has now been operating for
over 65 years and is building towards
the 4th generation entering the
business in the next 8 – 10 years.
Family Business Specialists
Annette Bonnett
(FBA Accredited Adviser)
Adelaide
+61 8 8133 5000
[email protected]
John Woodhouse
Brisbane
+61 7 3001 8800
[email protected]
Janelle Manders
Gold Coast
Aaron Murden
Melbourne
+61 7 5574 0922
[email protected]
+61 3 9606 3888
[email protected]
Kirstin Stewart
Perth
Tony Kabrovski
(FBA Accredited Adviser)
Sydney
+61 8 9227 7500
[email protected]
www.hlb.com.au
4
so many years, Simon now employs
their family office services (Private
Family Services) to look after all of
the day to day transactions, including
collecting of rent, payment of bills,
negotiating leases, working with
stock brokers regarding investment
decisions and full management of
their self-managed superannuation
fund.
+61 2 9020 4000
[email protected]